Love, Love, Love
by AmyHale
Summary: Betsy's fifteen years old. She deals with drugs, she has no rules, she has no family but she needs one. When Addison meets her again, she decides she can give her some love.
1. A Familiar Face

"Melinda Rogers?" the red-haired doctor called, reading the chart. It was a sunny Tuesday morning, Addison had only three patients and then she could go home (or shopping).

Two teenage girl walked towards her hand in hand. They both wore some light blue jeans a gray T-shirt, their hair was of the same color and fell back on their shoulders in the same way. The only thing that differentiated them – apart from the outlines of their faces and the color of their eyes – was that one of them was visibly pregnant.

"Hi girls."

Her smile faded when she looked better at the other girl; now that she was closer she could recognize the shades of her eyes, her lips, her hair. She knew her.

She swallowed, and after a second of shock a smile illuminated her again. "Hey sweetheart, oh my God! You're here." she stepped forward to hug the teenager, but Betsy moved back and looked at her defiantly.

Addison nodded, to let her know she understood her feelings, and turned back towards Betsy's pregnant friend.

"Come on Melinda, let's have a look at your baby."

Once they entered in the room, Addison motioned to Melinda to sit down and put up her shirt.

"No." she said. "I don't want to look at the baby. I'm here to get an abortion."

"But, you must be at least twenty eight weeks!" she looked at the girl's belly. "You can't get an abortion now."

"I know. I'm here to ask you. I googled you, and I read you're the best in your field. I don't care about money, I have it, I just need you to pull the baby out of my body."

Addison blinked, shocked, stunned by the sharpness in her voice.

"So?"

"I'm sorry." she finally managed to say. "It's not something I can do. It's illegal."

"Okay." Melinda shrugged indifferent, jumping off of the cot. "Goodbye, Dr. Montgomery."

Betsy followed her quickly, and the redhead took one deep breath before walking in their direction.

"Betsy wait!" she yelled across the hall, her heels ticking on the floor as she walked.

Betsy entered the elevator as fast as she could, pushing the button. When Addison tried to get in, she glared at her sternly, fire in her eyes.

When she disappeared behind the closed doors, Addison still couldn't move.

_**x**_

"Good morning. I'm here to see Aria Stevens, I scheduled a meeting."

Aria Stevens was the social worker who took Betsy after her aunt left her,and she had agreed to see Addison to talk about her.

"I saw her yesterday. She came to my practice with a friend. She knew who I was, but she seemed to hate me..." she explained, taking the cup of tea Aria was offering her. "Maybe she resents me for not adopting her." she continued. " I wanted to. Really, I wanted to..."

"Addison." Aria interrupted. "It's okay."

The woman inhaled air to calm herself down.

"Tell me about her."

Aria sighed and gave her a small smile.

"Betsy has no rules. At first, she was a shy little girl, but growing up she... changed. You're probably right, she resents you and your friends for not taking her, she resents us for not finding her a family. Little by little, the other kids of the group home started to distance her or to follow her behavior. Betsy is handful. Very. But I believe in her. She just needs to let someone love her."

Addison nodded slowly. The words she said in the following minute slipped through her lips like carbon dioxide, she didn't even realize until they were out. "What if I decide to adopt her?"

If the social worker was surprised, she didn't show it.

"We'll have to ask Betsy id she wants to. If you decide to adopt her,me and my colleagues will submit you to tests, questions and all that stuff. You'll have to be approved as a mom, first my us and then by a judge. It's tough, exhausting. Very very difficult. Betsey is a teenager. Do you want to do it?"

_**x**_

Addison decided to try to call Melinda; her number was in the patient's file after all.

"Hi Melinda. It's Dr. Addison Montgomery. I was... you know, wondering, if you were okay."

"I took care of the whole thing." Melinda informed her with indifference.

"Oh." Addison swallowed. "How?"

"I found a doctor who was willing to do it, I gave him money and it was done."

"Okay." despite everything, she really thought it was wrong. "Do you feel any pain?"

"Yes, but I took care of that too." she laughed.

"How?" _please, don't say drugs. Please, don't say drugs._

"Pills really help with pain. Every kind."

Addison didn't ask if 'kind' was referred to 'pain' or 'pills', but it was horrible in both ways.

"Look Melinda, I was wondering also another thing..." she took the subject to Betsy, the real reason of her call. "Could you give me your friend's phone number?"

"Why?"

Probably Betsy hadn't told her who she was to her.

"I used to know her parents a long time ago. I'd need to talk to her. I'd like to."

"I'll ask her. Bye." Melanie answered, and the line went dead.

**A/N: I'm excited about this story, I love the way I'm imagining Betsy in my head :) I don't know when I'll update though, because it's a busy time with school and I have **_**a lot**_** of other fics to write. I posted the first chapter to know if it's worth continuing... so let me know!**


	2. Shoplifting

A few days later, Addison called Melinda again.

"Hey. It's Dr. Mont-"

"What do you still want, Dr. Montgomery?" her voice was harsh and sharp. "I'm not your patient."

Addison guessed it was the effect of the drugs. She remembered that Amelia got often nervous when she was high.

"I'm calling to give you both my cellphone and house number for Betsy. Give it to her please. Or give me hers."

"Fine, I'll tell her. What is the number?"

She wanted to do so much for those girls. She just didn't know what.

_**x**_

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Addison was in one of her favorite shops looking at bags.

"Hey you! Get back here! Stop!" she heard a man shouting, and glanced in the direction the voice came from. She saw the shop assistant looking nervously at who probably was her boss and, to her horror, Betsy. She was holding a red leathered bag and seemed very pissed off.

She closed her eyes for a moment, guessing what had just happened. Betsy had tried to steal that bag. _Betsy_. The social worker was right, she wasn't a little girl anymore. She probably was also into that drugs stuff, as Melinda was.

She walked by slowly, holding her breath without even realizing it. This was the first time she would be near the girl since their last awkward encounter, and she bit her lip as she approached them.

"Excuse me? Hello." she said when the man turned towards her. Betsy saw her and rolled her eyes snorting, but she ignored it. "My name is Addison Montgomery... what, what happened?"

"Do you know this girl?"

"She's with me. What happened?" she repeated quickly.

"She was stealing."

Addison turned towards Betsy. "If you wanted that bag, why didn't you tell me? I have no problem with buying you things. I would've bought it, really. I'm not sure I should now though."

Betsy raised an eyebrow, staring at her amused. She shook her head slightly, holding back an acid laughter.

"It's either you buy the bag or I call the police, ma'am."

"Fine." she kept acting, agreeing. "I'll buy that one as well." she pointed to the blue bag she was looking at before, and went to the shelf to take it.

When they went out, the teenager walked to their right towards a bus stop, but the woman stopped her by wrapping her hand around her wrist. "Did Melinda give you my number?"

She nodded, without turning her face.

"Good. And I'd rather not catch you stealing again. Be careful." with that, she allowed her to go.

_**x**_

"Kevin?" she peered in the kitchen. "Hey."

"Hey." he answered, kissing her softly and rubbing her shoulders. "How was your day?"

She sighed, motioning to her fiancé to sit at the table. "Kev, do you remember when I told you about my friend Dell and his daughter?"

"Of course." he squeezed her hand, knowing how much his death still hurt her.

"Well, last week I met his daughter Betsy. She was at the practice with a friend and they asked me something that I really, really couldn't do. Then they left and you know... she hated me. I could see it in her eyes when they met mine."

"Oh honey, is that the reason you've been so on the rack these days?"

Addison nodded sadly. "Today I was bag shopping and suddenly a man was threatening her to call the police for stealing."

"She stole a bag?"

"She _tried_ to steal a bag." she corrected.

"And what did you do?"

She hesitated. "I pretended she was with me and I bought her the bag. Then I made sure she had my phone number just in case..." her voice trailed off, because she knew Kevin wasn't going to approve it.

"You lied about stealing! Addison!"

"Come on Kevin..."

"And what if the man had called the cops? Would you have lied?"

She looked him in his eyes firmly. "Yes, Kevin, I would have. I'm sorry, but I did what I thought was right for Betsy."

He sighed heavily, but calmed down. "You want to get to know her, don't you?"

"I do." she admitted, as she sat in his lap. "I want it so much."

**A/N: I'm sorry it was short, and I am very sorry I didn't update as soon as you wanted me to. I hope you liked it, though. And yeah, she's with Kevin. Pete is off limits, I don't really like Sam and I didn't want her to be alone.**


	3. The Wrong Place To Be At

"Have you talked with the others about Betsey?"

"No." she answered. "Not yet."

"Why?" Kevin put an arm around her shoulders.

"I don't really know. I just want to figure out what to do first. I'll tell them, I just... I'd like to have something more to say."

"Don't worry honey. Okay?"

"Okay." she smiled at him warmly.

Kevin stayed silent for a while, thinking about something huge that would make his soon-to-be wife happy.

"You know, we never talked about it."

"About what?" she looked up confused.

"About i kids. How do you feel about it?"

"Well, I... I've always wanted children." she told him.

"Because we could, you know... apply for adoption. For Betsy."

Addison stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, you-" he was cut off by her lips crushing against his. He grinned. "I love you."

"Mmm, me too." she whispered in his neck.

"Well baby, we'd better go to sleep now. It's getting late."

"You go ahead." she answered. "I'll have a quick shower and then come."

Kevin nodded, giving her another quick kiss.

When Addison joined him half an hour later, she found him sound asleep. She smiled, and kissed his temple.

A few hours later, when she was already very comfortable on the bed, she heard her phone ring. She picked it up from the bedside table, "Hello?" it was an unknown number.

"Who's it?" Kevin mumbled half asleep.

"_Addison? It's Betsy."_

"Betsy?" she exclaimed. Hearing that, Kevin opened his eyes.

"What happened, are you okay? Why are you calling this late?"

"_I'm at a party and I need to get away, but I can't drive yet and my friends want to stay... Can you pick me up?"_

"Sure." she said, trying to hide her surprise. "Tell me where you are." she grabbed a piece of paper to write it down.

"What happened? Kevin asked her when she out down the phone.

"She asked me to pick her up from some party. I don't know where the place is, I'll take a cab."

"I can come, I'm sure I know where it is."

"I know but... I don't think Betsy will like it if I go with someone she doesn't know. And besides you have to get up early tomorrow."

"Fine." he replied eventually. "Call if you need me."

"Sure." she said kissing him.

_**x**_

"Mona Park" Addison told the driver.

He raised his eyebrows, looking at her. "You don't look like the people that usually go there."

"I don't know what or where 'there' is. I'm just picking up someone."

"Got it. I hope for you it's not your son or daughter. When I found out my kid went there, I've forbidden her to go out for two months."

Addison thought the man was being intrusive, but if he was a father maybe he was right. Surely, Betsy was in a place she shouldn't even know about.

"She's not my daughter, but... just, she's a teenager. And I care about her."

"Mona park is a place in Compton where teenagers meet to party all night, sell and buy drugs and drink a lot of alcohol. Actually, most of them are boys and they're all aged around twenty-five years. The girls are usually under eighteen.

"Perfect." she mumbled. "Just perfect."

"We're here."

The redhead raised her eyes and saw Betsy on the sidewalk, looking around.

"Just wait for a second, please." she got out of the cab, as anger raised inside her. How could that girl be so irresponsible!

"Get in the cab." she ordered when she approached her. "Get in the cab now, I don't wanna hear a word." she took her by her arm and walked fast.

"Leave me-"

"No. You called me, now I can have whatever reaction I feel like having." she closed the door and asked the cab driver to go back to her house.

"You have no ri-"

"Like I said, you called me. I don't think you're stupid enough to think I wouldn't be mad just because I paid that bag for you and didn't say anything."

"I simply needed someone to drive me to the group house. And the address is-"

"I'm taking you to _my_ house. I just need to be sure you're safe, Betsy." she added a bit softer.

The girl turned her head towards the window, her arms crossed on her chest. She didn't say anything for the rest of the drive, and Addison didn't either. She was just so furious.

"It's freaking three am Betsy!" she yelled as soon as they entered the living room. "What the hell were you thinking? And Compton! It's, it's, it's somewhere you don't have to go to! Have you been there other times?"

Betsy laughed. "Of course! All of my friends live there, and my boyfriend does too!"

Addison was surprised, but it went away as quickly as it came as soon as she realized that having a boyfriend was the minimum of all the things Betsy would tell her.

"How old is your boyfriend?"

"Huh, just turned twenty-nine."

"I'm sorry? Are you-"

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding. Really. He's just twenty-six."

Addison faked a smile. "How wonderful. What were you doing there?"

"We were dancing, and having fun... you know there were a lot of people, we were at Jeff's house... I don't remember who he is though."

"Perfect. And how did you get alcohol?"

"We bought it."

"_How?"_

"Fake IDs, silly."

Addison was about to _really_ lose her temper now. "Give it to me."

"No." she shrugged.

"HAND IT HERE BETSY!"

As the voices started becoming louder, Kevin woke up and sat on the bed. He didn't know if Addison wanted him to join her or if she preferred to yell at Betsy on her own. So, he decided to wait some other minutes, but he walked to the top of the stairs so that he could hear better what they were saying.

"Addison, I'm not giving you anything." Betsy repeated.

"Fine, so now you come upstairs with me and go to sleep, and I'll drop you back to where you live before I go to work." she grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her in her direction, but the teenager slipped away.

"I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME! YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER NOR ANYTHING LIKE IT!" she shouted.

"DID YOU HEAR ME SAY I WAS, YOUNG LADY? I NEVER DID!" Addison yelled back, causing Kevin to jump a little.

She wrapped her fingers around Betsy's arm again, dragging her to the guest room.

"Who the hell is that man?" te girl asked harshly to Addison.

"He's my fiancé, and you're not allowed to talk to him like that. Understood?"

As the two adults expected, she didn't answer.

"I said, understood?" the redhead asked again, louder this time.

"Yes." Betsy said defiantly, as Addison closed the door of the room.

_**x**_

The next morning, Addison took Betsy to the group house and asked to talk to Aria.

"Addison." she was very surprised to see her with the teen girl. "Where were you?" she turned to Betsy, who obviously didn't think she deserved an answer.

"She asked me to pick her up this morning at about three, I took her to my house. She was..." she thought for a minute. "She was out with some friends." she stared intensely at the girl, hoping to win her trust somehow. Truth was, she felt bad about how she had treated Betsy. "Aria, I was thinking we should schedule another appointment soon to talk about what I said the last time."

"What did you talk about?" Betsy interrupted.

"I'll tell you another day, I have to get to work now."

Betsy's look was all but friendly. "I don't feel like staying here."

"Bye, sweetheart."


	4. The Devil Goes To See Heaven

"Does someone happen to know why Addison asked us all to come here?"

She had dragged them to the conference's room in a hurry, only to disappear seconds later.

"There is something we need to talk about." Addison said from the doorway. "In the past week, I met someone we all knew years ago." she sat between Pete and Cooper. "I met Betsy. And Kevin and I are seriously think about adopting her."

"Care to explain this?" Naomi breathed out.

"Betsy came to the practice with a friend, Addison gave her her number, then she caught her stealing in a shop. Last night, Betsy asked her to pick her up in Compton. That's it, shortly." they all turned towards Kevin as he talked.

"What are you doing here?" Addison exclaimed.

"I asked for half a day off and I'm here to support you."

"She was stealing?"

"Addison, you said _no_."

"Compton?"

Their friends' voices mixed up in a loud noise. Addison sighed, and waited for them to calm down. "Kevin and I, as I was saying, talked about adopting her. She needs stability, and a home, a family. She kinda hates me, so she could refuse. And it'll be a long deal, anyway."

"She doesn't hate you." Kevin interrupted her gently, with a smile. "She called you, remember?"

She shrugged slightly, not totally convinced but hoping that he was right.

"And what, what are you going to do now?" Violet stuttered.

"I have a meeting with her social worker later."

_**x**_

Betsy pressed the butt with her foot, blowing out the smoke. She ran her fingers through her dark brown hair, loose on her shoulders. She knocked on the wooden door, smoothing her skirt with an evil smile.

"Betsy!"

"Where is Addison?" she walked past Kevin rudely.

"In the shower."

"Oh, and why are you not with her?" she smirked.

Kevin ignored her. "Did you smoke a cigarette?"

"Excuse me?"

"You smell of smoke; was it a cigarette or something else?" he knew he should've asked what she was doing there first, but the words slipped out of his mouth.

"Hell no. _Of course_ it wasn't a cigarette." the girl laughed.

"I'm a cop, you know."

Betsy looked at him skeptically. "How scary. Do you have a beer?"

"Yes but, no way." he followed her as she moved through the rooms. "What did they tell you for going out at night?"

"Oh, nothing... they don't give a damn." she finally found the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Well, Addison and I do." he took the beer can from her hands.

"Give that back here! Anyway, if she cared about me she would... - Do you have money? I need money and I don't have any?"

Kevin looked into her eyes. "Betsy? Do you resent Addison?"

"You know, I don't really know her. I don't know anything about her or her life and I don't want to. So, the money? Can you give me some?"

The man took his wallet and grabbed some banknotes, but pulled it away just before she had a chance to take them. "I'll give you the money if you stay for dinner. It can be as quick as you want and we can keep our mouths shut all the time, but I'd like it if you had dinner with me and Addison."

Betsy sighed. She really did need the money.

_**x**_

"Hey stranger." Addison walked to where Kevin was and wrapped her arms around him. "Why are there three plates?" she asked then.

"Guess who's in the bathroom?"

"Er... I don't know." she laughed a little and gave him a quick kiss.

"Betsy."

"What?" she exclaimed, pulling away from him. "Are you kidding me?"

"No. Honey I'm serious, she wanted to see you. I told her you were in the shower and invited her over for dinner. Well... actually she didn't have a choice. She asked for money and I blackmailed her."

Addison ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh my god, Kevin! And now?"

"Now we have dinner with her. Come on, I made lasagna. It's ready, sit down."

As she sat at her usual place, Kevin called Betsy.

"Hey there sweetie." the redhead said when the teen walked in. She had an air of superiority that took away Addison's breath; that girl seemed to have the whole world at her feet.

"Hi." she answered indifferently, sitting down.

Kevin set the plate in front of her with a smile. "If you don't want water we also have coke or juice – and don't look at me like that because beer is off limits for you. See, we won't drink it when you're with us." he smirked.

Betsy rolled her eyes a little and started eating.

"Enjoy your meal." Addison told her.

"Whatever." she mumbled back awkwardly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Can we just eat? It's what I'm here for."

"No, you're here for money." Kevin reminded her. "And you also wanted to see Addie."

"I didn't want to." she teased.

"It's okay. Just eat." she said as an answer, warmly excited by her presence in her house. She couldn't help but think – and mostly hope – that it could be a new beginning. The beginning of Betsy in their life.

**A/N: I feel like the last part sucks. I just didn't know what to write. Anyway, about the sentences said by Addison's friends at the practice when they talk all together: the first one is by Pete, the second by Violet and the third by Cooper.**

**Please tell me what you think!**


	5. Spy Me

"Kevin, where are you going?" she asked seeing him putting on his shoes. "Some emergency at work?"

"Nope. I'm going to Compton." he grabbed his keys.

"What? Why? Did something happen to-"

"No, no. Don't worry, okay?" he kissed the top of her head. "I just wanna... you know, check on her. Be sure she's safe and okay. Think I'm not sure of, knowing she's out there in such an horrible place."

"Are you sure it's a good idea? If Betsy finds out..."

"She won't know I'm spying her, I promise." Kevin smiled. "See you later!"

"Bye, I love you!" she called after him.

_**x**_

Kevin drove slowly in direction of Compton, searching the place Addison had told him, the one where Betsey was that first night.

When he saw her, he blinked several times in surprise. The girl seemed at the minimum three years older. She wore a tight leather dress that sharpened her curves in a way Kevin found very inappropriate for her age, and her shoes looked like the ones Addison always had. She was laughing, her eyes and smile shone in the night. When she turned around Kevin thought he could see her make-up from where he stood.

Betsy was with two older boys and he was pretty sure they were holding some sort of drug in their hands.

The back guy pulled Betsy closer to him as they walked, and Kevin stiffened. He silently got off the car and started walking after them, leaving some distance between the teenagers and himself.

They entered in an old building, and Kevin could hear music and laughters from inside. As he followed the three teens, he angrily noticed the hand of one of them on Betsy's ass. He could get him arrested, he thought. He surely was over eighteen and Betsy was only fifteen. He saw a lot of young girls dancing with their arms over older boys' necks, and an incredible amount of alcohol everywhere. There were bottles and clothes and syringes on the floor.

Someone had probably noticed him because suddenly a female voice yelled everybody to get out. Right before she could escape, he grabbed Betsy's wrist and pulled her towards him, waiting in silence as the teenagers quickly left in fear.

"What the fucking hell are you doing here?"

"Shut up Betsy and come with me."

"Get off of me!" she yelled again, trying to remove his hand from her arm.

"No way. Get in my car." he opened the door, and when the girl didn't move he pushed her in, not roughly enough to hurt but enough to express his rage.

"Addison said you have a fake ID. Hand it here."

"No." she crossed her arms on her chest.

"There is no way on earth I'll take you where you live and won't say a word to the people who take – or should take – care of you. So if you don't give it to me, I'm sure they'll take it anyway."

"They don't give a damn, and neither do you."

"I do." he replied, looking at the road. "And I want what's the best for you. Going to Compton and doing those things _isn't._"

"And still, I won't give you anything."

Kevin stopped the car and and turned towards her sadly. "With this I don't wanna make you angrier than you are, I just want to find a way to help you: if I find out you've been going there again I won't hesitate and send your friends to jail for a very long time. This is not a joke, Betsy. I'm more serious than I've ever been in my life, and I want you to understand. What you're doing is wrong, and I can't tell you what to do but I'm _begging you_ to listen. It's dangerous, unhealthy and illegal. Illegal isn't even the worst part of it, but you could seriously get hurt. Those people could hurt you, there could be an accident. I'm not letting this happen. So now, please, get out of the car and stay with me while I talk to your social workers. I'll tell them what you were doing and you'll hate me for this, but remember that _I care_. And Addison does too. If I see you there or near those guys or using drugs, you'll have to deal with the consequences. All clear?"

She didn't answer, throwing him furious looks, and he waited patiently until she opened the door. She slammed it, and he took her arm gently, thinking she'd thought about running away.

"You won't ever have the guts to actually bring my friends to jail." she teased one last time as he knocked.

**A/N: Again, I don't like it. It's getting a little better though, I promise.**


	6. More Trouble

"We should go out to dinner to celebrate." Kevin kissed her on her neck.

"Good idea. Only the two of us?"

"Yep. And tomorrow we can tell the others that almost everything is ready for our wedding."

"Mmm." she sighed. "I wish Betsey could be one of the bridesmaids."

"Well, you can ask her next time." he said.

"I don't think she wants to see us." Addison grimaced.

"So, Mr. Nelson, it's all set for the 23rd of September. Nice dare for a wedding by the way."

"Thank you."

The wedding planner smiled at them and nodded. "So we'll meet again to decide the last details. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, thank you."

As they exited, Addison wrapped her hand around Kevin's. "Thank you for making me happy Kev."

"I promise I always will."

In that moment, Kevin's phone rang.

"Hello? Yes. WHAT? For God's sake, that girl's... Yeah, we're coming. Yes. Thanks."

He turned towards Addison, who was looking at him expectantly.

"It was someone from the police station. They arrested Betsy and when they asked her her parents' number she gave ours."

"They_ arrested_ her? She's only fifteen Kevin!"

"Addison, I've only seen her three times but believe me I'm not that surprised."

"What are we doing now? She's not under our charge."

"I don't know. Let's get there first."

"What the hell did she get arrested for?" Addison hissed.

"Hey, don't take it out on me. Drugs, I suppose."

"God, Kevin, I knew we should have kept her at our house."

"Addison, I told the social workers to keep an eye on her, I thought they would."

"Maybe the called the cops on her when they found the drugs. Maybe she was right and they don't give a-"

"They care." he told her. "It's their job and they chose it because they care. She's the one who doesn't consider them. We're gonna take her home, anyway, and see a judge as soon as possible to adopt her. Okay?" he squeezed her hand.

"She's a drug-addict. There are moments in which I blame myself for it."

"You don't have to, babe."

"She's so young, Kevin. She doesn't deserve what life has been giving her."

"We can make it better." Kevin smiled softly, and she nodded her head as an answer.

_**x**_

"We're here for Betsy Parker. We didn't understand exactly what happened..."

Addison noticed that he didn't say they weren't the teen's parents, but nor that they weren't.

"Hey!" Betsy greeted them with a smile, as if she hadn't just been arrested.

"Your daughter was in possession of illegal drugs. We confiscated it and-"

"If we pay the bail, can she come home? Will there be consequences?" he knew all of those things, but he hoped to scare Betsy a little talking about it.

"For this time, you can take her home. If it happens again since she's only fifteen she'll have to do some community service. If she's caught selling it,-"

"That won't happen, sir." Kevin interrupted him.

"Can we just pay and take her home?" Addison asked apprehensively.

"Yay!" Betsy squealed, winking to Addison. The woman glared at her angrily, and the girl's smile got bigger.

"Sign here." the man told Kevin.

"Done." he turned towards Addison and Betsey. "Let's go."

_**x**_

"Where are we going?" Betsy glanced at them from the back seat.

"Home." they told her at the same time, their voices slightly raised.

"You mean the group home, right?"

"No. We mean our place." Addison answered.

"What? I don't want to go there! I only called you to get out of there... you can leave me here."

"Betsy, you keep calling us. When you don't call us, you stop by for dinner or I follow you wherever you are."

"And you threaten to get my friends arrested." she reminded him bitterly, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Yes, and do you know why I do that? It's because I care. I'm not ever stopping to tell you this, Betsy. I, care, for, you."

Addison turned her head to look at the girl. "We want to adopt you."

"What?" the teen stared at them shocked, wondering if it was the truth. Most of all, Betsy wondered _why_. Indeed, she was sure they didn't really care.

"I've talked about it with Aria Stevens, and Kevin mentioned it the night he took you home from Compton. We want you, sweetheart. We want the best for you. And right now, we're the ones who can help you."

Betsy looked outside of the window, and the rest of the ride was silent.

When Kevin stopped the car, the girl got out slowly and waited for him to open the door. When he tried to stroke her cheek, she pulled away.

"We're going to the judge tomorrow morning. I'm calling now to schedule."

"Do you want to shower? Or something to eat?" Addison asked her softly, with a little smile.

"No. I don't want anything from you. I don't even want to be here."

The woman stared at her for a minute. "Well, the bathroom is upstairs and you've already slept in the guest-room. You know where the kitchen is, but no beers, alright? I'm serious. I need to talk to Kevin."

The teenager shrugged indifferently, and as soon as she disappeared she went to grab a bottle of wine. Addison only mentioned beer, right?

**A/N: I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, but I went to France for a few days.**

**For IsabellaKhach****: I wanted to answer to your PM but since you disabled it I can't. I think your story is fabulous and I have a few ideas; if you log in when you review I'll tell you :) **

**Oh, and I need a middle name for Betsy for next chapter. Ideas?**


	7. Nothing To Talk About

"... and I release Betsy Eleanor Parker to your joint custody!"

Addison smiled despite the nervousness and she squeezed Kevin's hand. They both looked at their girl, who avoided them openly, angrily.

Addison sighed and stood up, walking to her. "So," she smiled again, more softly. "Do you want to go shopping for your room before we go home?"

"No!"

"What about clothes?" Kevin added. "Addison loves shopping for clothes, you know. Oh, and shoes."

"And _bags_." Addison raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly as she remembered her second encounter with Betsy.

"Whatever. I need to call my boyfriend asap so let's hurry up and leave."

The two adults looked at each other, but when Kevin opened his mouth to scold the teenager, Betsy was already gone.

_**x**_

As soon as they entered the house, Betsy ran upstairs without a word.

"She hasn't said anything since the judge said she had to come with us. I'm worried."

"Don't worry too much babe, she's a teen. It's just... it'll go away. If we give her some space to think about the whole situation, she'll come around. You'll see." Kevin kissed her on her forehead. "Come on beautiful, let's cook lunch."

_**x**_

"Betsy? You want dessert?" Addison peered into Betsey's room, holding a plate with a slice of cake.

Betsy rolled her eyes, and turned up the volume of her I-pod.

"It's nice." the redhead sat on the edge of the bed. "I like it." she smiled warmly at the girl, although she knew well she wouldn't react. "What's your favorite color?"

Betsy looked at her briefly. "That's a stupid question, Addison."

"Well, I just want to get to know you." she patted her leg.

"Tonight I'm not in the mood." the girl grumbled. She grabbed her phone, answering an incoming call. "Hey, babe! Why weren't you picking up earlier? I have a bunch of things to tell you..."

Addison sighed, put the plate on the bedside table and left the room with one last loving glance towards the teenager.

_**x**_

The following day, Addison left the practice earlier than usual. She wanted to surprise Betsy buying her some curtains for her room, some brighter and more colored ones.

She was walking in direction of a shop Naomi and Violet had suggested her, when she saw Betsy with some other girls on the other side of the road.

That morning Kevin had taken her to school, but apparently she didn't really go there.

She considered for a few seconds her alternatives, buy decided to talk to her at home: they could end up fighting and yelling and she didn't want that with a lot of people around. She kept walking, asking herself if not taking her in when she was a kid was her worst mistake.

_**x**_

"Can I come in?" she knocked gently on the wooden door. Betsy was sat on the bed using her laptop; she had asked Kevin if she could borrow it.

The teen nodded, and she entered with her usual smile on her lips. She wasn't mad at Betsy anymore, because she understood that she did it because in her life no one had ever told her it was wrong. Or, if they did, it surely was in an exasperated way that could only lead the girl to do it more.

"How was your day?" she asked when she saw Betsy looking at her expectantly.

"Normal. I felt sleepy for the first two hours, slightly lost during the third, and the rest of it was boring. The only fun moment was lunch, because I met some girls and we talked."

"I'm happy you made some friends. Maybe you could ask them to come here one day; you could spend some time on the beach."

Betsey didn't answer, pondering Addison's idea.

"I bought something for you." Addison said, picking up the bag with the curtains. "They're yellow. I didn't know if you liked the color, but I think it's nice. Tomorrow we can put them on your windows. Do you like them?"

She nodded, touching the tissue. "They're nice."

Addison smiled warmly. "Good. So... what are you doing?"

"The girls I told you about gave me their e-mail address and now we're chatting."

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then. I'll call you when dinner's ready." she stood up from the bed and walked to the door. Right before exiting, she turned around. "Oh, and Betsy? I know you skipped school, I saw you. For this time, as you may have noticed, I won't say or do anything about it, but I don't want it to happen again. You can hang out with your _school_ friends after your homework, and I'd like to know where you go. Alright?" she didn't wait for her to reply. "There's a baseball match on TV at eight thirty, and Kevin is watching it. If you like sports, he'd really be glad if you joined him."

_**x**_

"I did athletics for two years, but then I stopped. I really liked it."

"You can start again anytime." Kevin told her during the match break.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure, why not? We'll ask around."

"Thank you." she forced herself to say. She had problems to admit it, but she liked Kevin a lot.

"I'm sorry Kevin, can you turn it off for a minute?" Addison appeared in the living room, her voice slightly expressing her anger.

"What's going on honey?"

Addison walked to Betsy. "Look Betsy, I'm really trying to be an understanding person but... I found this." she showed her a pack of cigarettes. "And I don't like it one bit."

"Betsy..."

She glanced at Kevin, pouting. "I've never made a secret of it. I smoke. End of."

"You _used_ to smoke. End of." Addison answered, firmly.

Betsy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. You're making a big deal out of nothing."

"Out of _nothing_, Betsy? Do you know what happens to your body when you smoke? Smoking causes cancers in parts of the body, including the kidney, cervix, and bone marrow. It causes cataracts and contributes to the development of osteoporosis, thus increasing the risk for fracture in the elderly. It causes prematures deaths. There is a reason why they write that it harms you on it."

The girls breathed heavily. "Well, so I'll die young. So what?"

Addison closed her eyes to calm herself down a little.

"This is important." Kevin's voice was firm and grave. "Quit smoking. If you need help, you'll get it. But quit smoking, or you'll get yourself in trouble. And trust me, I mean it. I'm serious and I want you to keep in mind that there will be consequences."


	8. A Safe Place

"Kevin!" Addison cried out in horror, in the middle of the night.

"What?" he opened his eyes and quickly ran to the corridor.

"Betsy's gone! She just... she's not in the house, she's gone!"

"Is her stuff here?"

"Yeah, I think..."

"Then she isn't gone, she's just _out_. Okay, stay calm Addison, and try call her." he disappeared in the bedroom to get dressed.

"She doesn't answer!" she exclaimed.

"Okay. I'll go to Compton again. Alright? If she isn't there, I'll call the others and ask them to help me find her. You stay here in case she shows up, okay?" he put his hands on her shoulders, trying to reassure her with his firm look.

She nodded tearfully, sniffing.

"Good." Kevin kissed her forehead, he then walked down the stairs and left the house, feeling a lot more upset than he let his fiancée intend.

He drove calmly, without surpassing any speed limit. He had to keep himself together, but on the other hand he knew the kind of people Betsey hung out with, and he'd never trust them. He took a mental note to keep a stricter eye on his girl, from the moment he'd find her. _If_ he found her. Now, his thoughts were becoming irrational. He suddenly understood how it was to be a parent.

_**x**_

Addison couldn't let go of the phone. After putting some comfortable clothes on and making some coffee, she tried to call Betsy constantly, but each time there was no answer. The cellphone was off, or there wasn't line.

She also couldn't stop pacing. Her heart was beating so fast that it almost hurt, despite the fact that _she knew_, deep inside, that Betsey was safe, and only trying to anger them. The simple thought of not knowing where she was and with who, or of ignoring what she was doing, freaked her out.

She tried calling her for the nth time, and again she couldn't reach the girl. She jumped slightly when, a few second later, she heard the phone ring.

"Hello?"

"_Dr. Montgomery, I'm calling from St. Ambrose."_

_Oh God, no._

"_On of your patients is having vaginal bleeding and needs surgery urgently. We need you asap."_

As the other woman talked, Addison took a big sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, I can't come. I have some personal problems right now..."

"_Dr, she already fainted three times. Her blood pressure is very low; we really need you here."_

"Okay. Okay." Addison closed her eyes for a moment. "I'll be there asap."

_**x**_

_I had to go to the hospital. Urgent, no choice._

Kevin read Addison's message and hit the wheel in frustration. He had looked everywhere, but Betsy was nowhere to be found. All the places he knew she could be at were desert or she wasn't there.

He took his phone. "Hey Cooper." he told him when he answered. "It's Kevin. I have a problem, Betsy is missing. I'm looking for her but I need your help... could you come?"

"_Sure."_ Cooper agreed, concerned. _"I'll call Pete."_

_**x**_

Addison was running to the OR, listening to her own footsteps on the lucid floor.

She scrubbed in quickly, adrenaline. She realized that doing something concrete might help her.

She gasped when she saw the patient. _No_, she thought. "That's Melinda Rogers." she stated. "Was there a girl with her? A brunette girl? If yes, please go get her and take her to the gallery. Now."

As a nurse exited the OR, the woman finally concentrated on Melinda, knowing she had to save her life.

_**x**_

She walked slowly to the gallery, feeling the weariness surround her.

She sat beside Betsy and held her tightly on her chest. "Are you okay?"

"Is _Melinda_ okay?"

"Yes." she nodded.

"Then I'm okay too."

"You scared us."

"I know, I'm really sorry."

"But why didn't you call me, if Melinda was in pain? You knew I could help her."

Betsy merely shrugged, wiping the tears away. "She texted me saying 'come over quickly', but I didn't think she was hurting. Her house is close to the hospital so..."

"How did you get here?"

Betsy closed her eyes, resting her head on Addison's shoulder. "Don't ask questions you don't want to hear the answer to."

"Why?" she asked instead, alarmed.

"We were alone at the house, and Mel was bleeding a lot. I had to drive here. Don't freak out. I won't say it's not a big deal, because I know it actually is, but don't freak out."

The woman pulled away and put a hand under the teen's chin to make their eyes meet, and looking at her in slight shock.

"At this very second I'm too tired to yell or even scold you. But we are gonna discuss it tomorrow, alright? Now I need to call Kevin, and after that we can go home."

**A/N: I miss Kevin. Well, anyway Betsy is finally coming around a little! And I changed Melanie's name to Melinda. It had to be Melinda from the start, but then I changed my mind halfway through the first chapter. Now, I changed my mind again.**


	9. Caught In My Crime

"Hey." she whispered in the desert hallway. "Finally. You have no idea how much I've missed you." she kissed the guy with passion.

"Me too, babe." he grinned. "Can we go somewhere more private? Or you want to do it here?" he placed his left hand under her white t-shirt, his right one on her bottom.

"I found a perfect place yesterday. Some guys were there smoking." she whispered again, but more sensually.

"Did you hang out with other boys?" his eyes immediately darkened, and he held tighter.

"No, they just gave me free coke in return of my silence with the teachers. Please, can we go before I get caught? Addison and Kevin would kill me." she finished dramatically.

"Since when do you care?" he teased.

"I don't." she lied. "But if they found out, they could do something. Once Kevin threatened to get you all arrested."

He grimaced, letting her lead him to her damn secret place.

He took off her shirt, revealing a silky greeny bra. It was small for her, and he immediately got excited. He pushed her against the wall, capturing her soft lips in a non-ending kiss. She soon folded her legs around his waist, moaning when he placed a waterfall of brief kisses on her neck.

He unbuttoned her jeans and then his own, and their clothes formed a little pile on the floor.

He started to lower her panties, as she slipped her tongue all over his chest...

They didn't hear the door open, but they both turned their heads at the sound of a stifled scream.

"Ms. Parker, follow me immediately."

Her heart beat fast as she picked up her clothes from the floor.

She didn't talk as her principal made Johnny leave.

"Ms. Parker, sit."

Betsy did as she was told, thinking about what she said to her boyfriend. 'I don't care'.

"Now, I want you to call your parents and tell them to come here, so that we can talk about your suspension."

"Suspension?" Betsy eventually raised her eyes and looked at her.

"You were having... you know; at school, with an older boy who doesn't come at this school. Ms. Parker, you are very lucky I didn't decide to expel you."

This time, the girl merely sighed, and leaned against the chair's backrest, folding her arms on her chest.

The woman handed her the phone with a firm look. "Call your parents, Betsy." she said, calling her by her first name for the first time.

"No." she shook her head stubbornly, turning to her right.

"If you don't call them, I will."

_**x**_

"How is it going with Betsy?" Naomi sa next to Addison on her office couch, opening a box of chocolates.

"A little better, these days." she answered. "We've talked a little and she watched some matches on TV with Kevin several times. I took her to the hospital to see her friend. And even if she really makes us mad by doing whatever we don't want her to do... things are really starting to get better. I think she liked Kevin better than me, though."

"Oh, really? Why?" Naomi ate a chocolate.

"I don't know, it's just a feeling..."

Before she could explain herself better, her phone rang and she answered.

Naomi watched as her friend's expression turned to confusion, then to incredulity and eventually to anger.

"I gotta go." she told her after hanging up. "I talked too soon. It was Betsy's school." she grabbed her purse and her jacket, and left without other words.

_**x**_

"Sex at school, Betsy, seriously? What were you thinking?"

"We didn't exactly have sex, she came too soon."

Addison stopped roughly the car.

"You got suspended, Betsy. For ten days. For _having sex at school_. Do we agree on the fact that it's grave?"

Betsy snorted. "Why didn't she call Kevin instead of you?" she mumbled.

"Do you remember his promise to arrest all your friends? Keep that in mind." she answered angrily.

"He is a good guy!" the girl yelled.

"He's too old for you! He's what, twenty-six? It's illegal!" Addison shouted back.

"I don't care."

"Too bad, because _I_ do."

Betsy laughed evilly. "So what, Addison? You're gonna forbid me to see him?"

"Exactly."

Betsy's laughter died in her throat as soon as she heard the word, throwing her a death glare.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. And you're also grounded. For three weeks." the woman restarted driving.

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me." and she blocked the doors before Betsy could do something crazy and jump out.

"I hate you." she said.

"And I hate it when you say things like that. When you behave like this." Addison answered sadly.

**A/N: next chapter, the wedding!**


	10. Let Eternity Begin

The girl looked at herself in the big mirror, trying to maintain her face expressionless but after all failing in her purpose. She simply loved the dress Addison had chosen, and she hoped to find other occasions to wear it. It was a long tight dress, without straps and slightly larger on the ankles. The color was a pearled, lucid violet, and the silk felt amazing at Betsey's touch.

"Are you ready?" Addison walked to her and smiled, smoothing her own dress.

"It's beautiful. I like your hair." Betsy said, unable to contain a shy smile.

"Thank you." Addison smiled back, reaching out to fix a rebel lock of hair with a white hairpin. "The car is waiting for us, let's go." she added, pointing to the door.

"Okay. By the way, Kevin looked amazing."

Addison laughed, walking out of the room and thinking this seemed to be the best day of her life.

In the car Betsy pretended to look outside of the window, but she kept glancing at Addison with curiosity. Each time their eyes met the woman smiled at the girl warmly, creating a little bubble of joy around them. They didn't talk, but deep down Addison could sense it was the start of the good times, and she hoped her heart was telling her the truth.

"Oh my God we're here. I have to breathe..."

"Are you nervous?" Betsy asked as Addison breathed out.

"Like you have no idea. Wow. I'm getting married, Betsy. I don't recall being that nervous on my first wedding."

"What?" Betsy exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it, just not today." she got off the car with a bright smile, and the teen quickly followed.

"You were married?" she didn't say it out loud, but she found strange thinking about Addison with another man.

"Okay." she turned towards Bety, ignoring her question. "You have to get in first."

"I know." the girl opened the doors of the church with a dash, and she started to walk down the aisle before Addison.

People turned to watch them as they proudly joined Kevin with grace and beauty. They almost seemed mother and daughter, with the same expression in their eyes and the identical hairstyle.

Kevin gave them a smile full of love, and in that moment he couldn't be more sure of what he was doing. He had the certainty that he wanted his life to be exactly how it turned out to be.

He took Addison's hand, and the priest started the ceremony.

_**x**_

"It's all going perfectly." Addison whispered in Kevin's ear as they danced. "It's going smoothly, can you believe it?"

"Yeah, why?" the man chuckled slightly, knowing she was thinking about their girl.

"I don't know, she could have thrown a cigarette butt in the grass making all go on fire. Look at her, she's there smiling at people and... drinking a glass of champagne, don't you think we should stop her?" she frowned.

"Relax, Addison, it's our wedding. Let her be."

Addison giggled, pushing herself closer to her husband. "I love you, Kevin."

"I love you too, my beautiful lady." he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

_**x**_

"If you want to go out tonight, you can." Addison told Betsy when they got home later that night.

"Really? Can I? Aren't I grounded?" Betsy looked at the woman incredulously, wondering if she heard right.

"I have a better idea." Kevin interrupted them. "If you agree, of course." he turned towards the teen. "I was thinking that maybe you would like... to visit your parents."

Addison froze and set her gray eyes on her husband, anxiously waiting for Betsy to explode.

"Yeah. I would like that."

Kevin nodded, a little surprised. "Let's go."

**A/N: Isabella, your comment about Betsy setting fire on everything made me laugh so much that I had to put it someway! And since I didn't want her to actually ruin the wedding, I made Addison think that she would have!**

**Anyway, yuck, this chapter sucks. I don't like it. It was supposed to be a hell lot longer than this but I hated what I what I was writing so I cut two scenes (the ceremony and the last scene at the graveyard). And now this speech is longer than the chapter... sorry.**


	11. Words To The Wind

**A/N: This is some months later.**

"No way."

"_Please_."

"I said no."

"But I said please!" the girl threw her arms up in the air in frustration.

"You can plead as much as you want, but I won't allow you to sleep with your twenty-six-year-old boyfriend at his place!" Addison poured herself a glass of water, wishing the fight could end.

"Think about it as a birthday present!"

"Sweetheart, I'd give you every birthday present you want, just not this."

Betsy glared at her. "You want to ruin my perfect day." she accused her.

"Betsy." Addison talked firmly, letting her know she was serious. "Tomorrow is your sixteenth birthday, and I'm letting you go to the party that your friends – that by the way I don't like – organized for you. You can stay until midnight and all I want is for you to have fun. But you asked me if you can sleep there, and I said no. Meaning _no_. I have to go to work now, and please let it go. I'm not changing my mind and you know I don't like to fight with you."

The woman picked up her bag and stared at the teenager for a few seconds, before walking to her and kissing her on her forehead. "Don't throw a fit. I love you, have a nice day."

After Addison closed the door and left, Betsy looked around the room. She mentally considered all the rooms of the big house, and decided that they were perfect. A shy idea was forming in her mind, and the girl smiled in satisfaction. She liked it. It was all going to be perfect.

She grabbed the phone and decided to call Dee first. Addison and Kevinhated all her friends because they were older than her, they drank, they were addicted to drugs. She, on the other hand, was starting to like her new life. Sure, she and Addison still fought almost everyday, but lately it was just over stupid things. She didn't exactly quit smoking (although she had made her adoptive parents think she did), but little by little she was understanding that there were a lot of other better things in the world. For example, she had some new friends at her school who were completely different from the people she normally hung out with. Dee and Sacha were the closest ones, and in the last months they had done a lot of things together – including ditching school, but just once. Melinda was still her best friend, and she decided she could invite her to the party she was throwing. Melinda was the only one allowed to come to her new house, the only one she went out with in presence of both her new and old friends. She didn't want to mix up the two worlds she created, but Melinda was like the bridge who kept her in the middle.

The girl thought that by inviting the people from Compton and other bad places she would have automatically made Addison cancel her birthday party, so she only called a few guys from her school and added Melinda to the list.

"Hey Mel!" she opened the door to her best friend, excited. "We only have half an hour before everyone arrives; Addison and Kevin are working until late afternoon so we have time, but not a lot of time."

"Got it. What do we have to do?" Melinda dropped her purse on the floor.

"Beers and other stuff. There's some alcohol in the fridge, but they would notice, so one of us has to go buy some. They took my fake ID, do you mind going alone?"

Melinda shook her head. "Move the couch closer to the wall, so that there's more space in the room. Place glasses on the table in the kitchen and choose some music. When I come back we can start getting ready!"

"Buy some food as well!" she yelled after her.

It took Betsey only a few minutes to fix everything for the party, so she went to Addison's room. She opened the door slowly, feeling as if she was violating her privacy.

Addison's closet was big. Huge, actually. The girl had to catch her breath when she saw all those amazing clothes and shoes, and she hoped harder one of them would fit her. She touched one of Addison's blue dresses; it wasn't too long not too short, its color wasn't too strong nor too light. It was a little provocative, but not in an excessive way. She slowly took it out and put it on the bed as she undressed, wondering if the redhead would get mad. She kicked away the thought as soon as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, telling herself it was perfect.

When Melinda arrived she offered her Addison's black dress, knowing it was her friend's favorite color. Melinda, though, shrugged indifferently and told her she had her clothes in her bag.

"They're here!" Betsy jumped on her feet and ran to the door, fixing her hair before opening. "Hello everybody!"

Melinda turned on the stereo, and some music started to play.

"Hi Betsy." a boy said. "Nice house."

"Thanks." she handed him some fresh beer, smiling.

"Let's partyyyyy people!" someone yelled jumping on the couch and turning the volume of the music up.

Betsy smiled again and drank her beer in one sip, approaching some random boy and starting to dance.

Her hips moved on the rhythm of music, and the lyrics echoed in her ears. She laughed, feeling powerful. _Let's have fun!_

Two hours and some certainly-laced-with-whiskey beers later, Betsy's head began to feel bleary and she had to lean against the wall not to fall to the ground.

"Hi." someone approached her, and although she was sure the boy was in her chemistry class, she couldn't really tell who he was.

"This party's awesome!" he shouted to be heard above the music. "I'm having a lot of fun! Are you sure your parents won't get mad?"

Something like 'they won't' came out of her mouth, and she tried to walk without really being able to. The boy grabbed her arm and held her on her feet; their bodies were closed and hot.

"This dress looks amazing on you!" he told her again, but she didn't really understand.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, staring at him dreamily.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, glancing at her weirdly.

"Yeah!..." Betsy leaned over and kissed him, pushing him towards the laundry room's door.

_**x**_

When Addison parked the car in front of her house, she had the feeling that something was wrong. In a first moment, she thought that maybe Betsy cold have gone somewhere without leaving a note, but then she heard the music and rolled her eyes, understanding that there was a party going on.

She opened the front door with a frown, and looked at the scene with her eyes wide open. Empty bags of chips and chocolates were scattered all over the floor along with beakers and napkins.

A few teens, seeing her, froze and hurried towards the still open door; Betsy cursed at herself, looking at the clock. Addison had finished work earlier than usual.

"Hey Betsy! I thought you said your mom and dad wouldn't get mad!" someone exclaimed, and the girl's eyes set on Addison in horror. The woman was clearly shocked, but Betsy couldn't tell if she was angry.

"You should all go." she said out loud, and for the next minutes the music was covered by the teens' buzz.

Betsy kept her eyes fixed on Addison, waiting for a sign, a word, a reaction. When the silence became unbearable and she felt tears coming, she ran up the stairs to her room.

Addison slowly moved; she walked to the stereo and turned it off. She then glanced to the ceiling, and breathed heavily before leading to Betsy's room.

"Can I come in sweetie?" she knocked on the open door, and her heart clenched when she saw her on the bed, crying. She put an hand on her back and rubbed it softly, waiting for her to calm down.

"I'm sorry baby." she said. "I should have said something. Betsy..."

The girl slowly turned around and looked at her. "I don't know why I'm crying."

"It's perfectly okay to cry." she gave her a little smile.

"It was too complicated to tell them that you adopted me and why... so I never told anything and they thought you were my parents. But now I feel guilty, because I don't really consider you my parents... and I miss my mom and dad."

"Oh, sweetheart." Addison hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "I know. I know."

"I, I like you. Maybe I didn't in the beginning, but I'm starting to... It's hard."

"I know it's hard. I didn't expect it to be easy."

"Are you mad at me?"

Addison pondered her answer. "No. But I want you to clean that mess downstairs. Later, when you have calmed down."

Betsy nodded. "Can I still go to my party tomorrow?" she bit her lip, preparing herself to hear a negative answer.

"Yes, you can. If you hide all the proofs of you drinking before Kevin comes home."


	12. Shoot Me

Betsy sprawled on the couch and grabbed the TV remote. She was bored. Kevin was still at work and Addison had a conference out of town; Melinda was in rehab and Dee had to study. Actually, she was supposed to be studying as well, but after only twenty minutes her brain had refused to continue.

She eventually turned off the TV and lazily kicked off her shoes, setting a pillow under her head. Maybe, Kevin could help her with geometry later. Or maybe not, she thought then closing her eyes. He'd made her stay there until she knew it perfectly.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Betsy was woken up bu the phone. She yawned and slowly sat up, reaching out to take it.

"Hello?"

"_Hello, am I talking to Mrs. Addison Nelson?"_

"No, I'm her... daughter." the teen said, giving to the woman the simpler explanation.

"_Can I talk to her, please?"_

"She's not here, she'll be home tomorrow night."

There was a brief pause. _"Then I'll have to tell you. I'm calling from St. Ambrose Hospital,"_

"What happened?" the teenager interrupted.

"_I'm sorry to say that your father Kevin Nelson has just been brought here. They shot him."_ the woman talked slowly, sorry to tell such a thing to a young girl.

Betsy's heart fastened and she felt a knot in her throat.

"I, I, I'll come; he, is it, is it,"

"_He's in surgery right now."_

The girl ended the call and rushed outside, without worrying about bringing some money or her cellphone with her.

She ran, she ran to a more busy street.

"St. Ambrose Hospital please." she breathed getting in a cab. "Hurry!"

She touched her face to remove a lock of hair from her eyes, and notice it was wet with tears. she didn't realize she was crying. The girl brought an hand to her heart, trying to calm her breathing a little.

"Are you okay?" the driver looked at her from the driving mirror.

"I asked you to bring me to the hospital and I'm crying. Do you think I'm okay? 'Cause I'm not. By the way, I don't have any money. I can leave you my number, and my dad will pay for the ride _when he's out of the hospital._"

_**x**_

She had been waiting in the waiting room for four hours. When she had tried to sneak to the gallery, two nurses forced her to leave before she could make sure that Kevin was alive.

Now she was calling Addison again with Kevin's phone, and again the woman wasn't picking up. Probably she was busy at the conference, but she needed her.

"Betsy! Betsy, Charlotte just called me... how are you sweetie?" Naomi sat beside her and pulled her in a hug.

"Addison doesn't answer the phone."

"We'll try again in a little. Did they tell you something?"

Betsy shook her head, pulling away.

"I'll call Charlotte. She said she was in the OR, but she should answer."

In that moment a doctor walked over, and the teenager felt her heart stop once again.

"He's stable. The bullet was very close to his heart, but we stopped the bleeding and repaired his artery. He'll have to stay here for a while, and even when he's home he'll have to rest for a few months.""Can we see him?" Naomi said as she stood up.

"Of course. Follow me."

Kevin looked smaller, Betsy thought, in the hospital bed. He looked powerless, strengthless, pale as if he was lifeless.

Slowly, she approached the bed and squeezed his hand gently, fearing to harm him.

"He's gonna be okay, Betsy. Kevin is strong."

"Hey." Charlotte entered the room and smiled at the girl. "Where's Addison?"

"We couldn't reach her."

The blonde woman nodded understanding.

"Can you leave me alone with Kevin?"

Once they left, Betsy sat on the edge of Kevin's bed.

"I want you to wake up, Kevin. I know it doesn't work this way (I say it and it becomes truth), but you have to wake up. For Addison? Please?" she started to draw circles on his hand with her thumb. "I dumped my boyfriend. You might want to hear this." she smirked. "He yelled a lot and tried to stop me from leaving, my I held my ground. Addison was right, he was a little too old for me."

"A little? Maybe you meant outrageously old for you." the man's voice was low and hoarse, but Betsy heard it clearly.

"Kevin!" she exclaimed, jumping on her feet in excitement, her heart filled with relief.

"I'm here, girl. What happened to me?"

"They shot you at work. Why weren't you wearing a bulletproof vest? I thought cops always wore it..."

"Don't you worry about it, alright? I'll be fine." he tried to sit up, but he immediately made a grimace of pain.

"Don't move!"

"Right. I realized that. How are you? Are you tired? What time is it?"

"It's eight pm, and now that you say it I am a little tired. But I want to stay with you, I can sleep later." she sat down again and took his hand in hers with a smile.

Kevin was about to say something when his phone – still in the girl's pocket – rang.

"Yes?"

"_Betsy? Did you or Kevin call? I have like, twenty unanswered calls..."_

"Addie..."

_**x**_

When Addison arrived at the hospital, she looked at least five years older. Betsy, Naomi and Charlotte – and also Kevin, who she insisted to talk to – had assured her husband was fine, but she had to see him to believe it.

The hospital was dark and silent – it was the middle of the night after all. Betsy was asleep on a chair with her head on the bed, and Kevin seemed peacefully resting in dreamland.

She walked by the bed slowly, and dropped her bag on the ground. Suddenly, tears were pushing on the corner of her gray eyes. She touched Kevin's forehead with a sigh, placing a soft kiss on his temple.

Then she rubbed the girl's back, trying to wake her up. "Betsy? Hey honey." she held her tight for what seemed an eternity, glad that she wasn't pulling back. "I'm here. It's going to be okay." she told her when she heard the teen's sobs. "I'll be here forever, I'm not ever leaving you again."

**A/N: hey, so I think last chapter wasn't what you wanted, at least the end. I know that Addison was supposed to be very angry at Betsy, but I just thought that she would softened hearing that person saying 'your mom and dad' and then seeing Betsy crying :) I appreciate all your reviews though, a huge huge thank you!**

**Anyways, from this chapter on time will go by pretty quickly.**


	13. A Little Piece Of Heaven

**A/N: I suck, I know. I had a lot of things to do these days. I know, lame excuse.**

**I have been reading Addek for days now. It just feels strange to write Addison with Kevin.**

"What do you think she's doing?" Addison mumbled, pressing her face on her husband's chest.

"I have no idea. But I also have no intention of getting up and find out before at least half past seven. It's Sunday and we're supposed to sleep."

"I think I am going to check on her." she tried to to sit up, but he wrapped his hands around her forearms and pulled her back to him.

"Kevin!"

"Kiss me good morning, love."

Addison laughed and pecked on his lips softly. "I love you."

"Love ya too." the man whispered, falling back to sleep.

Addison left the room silently, and she slowly walked down the stairs. Betsy had been up for hours, doing whatever she felt like doing in a very noisy way.

"Betsy, honey?" she asked, leaning on the jamb of the kitchen's door. The teenage girl was sitting at the table with a cup in one hand and the phone in the other. "Are you okay?"

"Mmm," she merely shrugged and went back to look at her phone. "I have my period and I feel awful so I couldn't sleep... I did some stuff. I tidied up my closet and cleaned my bedroom, then I watched TV and put on some music... Now I'm hungry. And I'm waiting for some girl named Chelsea to give me Cameron's number."

"I've been asking you to clean up your room for over a week." Addison smirked, sitting down next to Betsy. "Who's Cameron by the way?"

"No one." she shrugged again, but the woman could tell she knew her well enough to understand her fake-indifferent expression.

"Sure." she smiled. "What do you want to eat?"

"Hot cocoa." the teen showed her the cup. "Nothing better than it. I don't feel having anything else right now."

"Okay."

"Listen, can I borrow your credit card this afternoon? I kind of need new clothes."

"Well, if I give you my credit card I'll have to give you a limit on how much you can spend. But, we could go together. I'll pay for everything, no limits."

Addison smiled again, waiting for Betsy to agree. She wanted to spend time with her, she needed it. Lately the girl had been taking driving lesson from Kevin, and Addison still thought the girl liked him better than her – so she was trying to suggest everything that came to her mind to do something together.

"Fine, but just for an hour. I have to meet with some friends at six."

"Are you having dinner out?"

"I guess so."

"Shouldn't you ask us first?" Addison raised her eyebrow.

"Why?" Betsy teased. "You're not really-"

"Don't go there." she warned her. "We're not your parents, but you have to ask first. I have no problems with you having dinner out, but I want to know first."

The teen rolled her eyes. "I would have told you."

"I'm sorry, I meant to say that you have to ask. Okay?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Fine."

"Good. Now, who's Cameron?"

Betsy snorted.

_**x**_

"Do you think he recognized us?" Betsy whispered, glancing at the man.

"I don't know." Addison whispered back. "But we better be quick. He could seriously call the police this time."

"I want that." she pointed to a gray big bag on a shelf.

"I like that too." Addison said taking it.

"Oh. It costs a lot."

"No problem. Now, _please_ let's get out of here. God, that was my favorite shop." the woman rolled her eyes as she walked to the pay desk.

"Sorry." Betsy giggled.

"Hey." Addison said when they got out. "Have you stolen again, since that time?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Addison."

"Promise me you won't do it again."

"_Addison_."

"I'm serious here. If you do, I might very well ground you for the rest of your life."

"Of course." again, she rolled her eyes. "Can we go to Starbucks?"

_**x**_

"Oh my God." Betsy put down her napkin and widened her eyes.

"What?" the redhead turned toward where the girl was staring.

"It's Cameron!"

"Oh. Which one?"

"The blond one! Look, he's tall, he's wearing a white t-shirt..."

"Do you have a crush on him?" Addison blinked.

"I do not." Betsy said indignantly.

"Okay..."

"I do not!" she exclaimed. "Can we go now before he sees me?"

"Okay, I'll go pay." Addison stood up.

"I'll wait for you outside."

_**x**_

"I think Betsy likes a boy." Addison wrapped her arms around Kevin's waist. They were on their patio, staring at the black sky. There were no stars that night. Betsy had come home an hour earlier, and after a shower she claimed she was going to bed.

"_What?_"

"Oh, come on. It's cute. I saw him, and he looked her age... and also, not into drugs. So, if they date, we don't have much to worry."

"_If_ they date," her husband pointed out, making Addison laugh.

"She's sixteen, she can date. I didn't like her ex-boyfriend and I wouldn't like this Cameron boy if I thought it was dangerous. But almost every girl her age has a crush on someone or dates a boy. Or has a boyfriend. It can't be worse than the twenty-six-year-old guy."

"Yeah, you're right. But I feel, you, know,-"

"Jealous?"

"Yes, that pretty much describes it."

"Don't worry, honey." she leaned in and kiss him. "She's alright."

"You know, Add... we should go somewhere. We never went on our honeymoon, and in five months it'll be a year since we officially adopted Betsy. We should really go on vacation... like in-"

"Europe. I'd love to go to Europe, Kevin."

**A/N: ****This is important, so please read it****. I've decided to write a 'missing moments' story. Basically, after I finish this I'll write a story in which I put all the scenes that I haven't written of in here. So, if you have suggestions you have to tell me, because I only have a few ideas. Like, I plan on writing Kevin's reaction to the party, since I know a lot of you wanted to know. I'll start it only when this story is over, though, so there is time. Let me now what you think!**


	14. Spain, I Found A Shell In The Sand

"Betsy!Hurry up, we're late!" Kevin walked up the stairs fast. "Addison will pout all day if we miss the plane." he added lowering his voice when he entered the girl's room.

"Oh, and she will ban you from sex." the teenager winked at him with a smirk, throwing a pair of shoes in the open suitcase on her bed.

The man threw her a glare but ignored her words. "You _still have_ to pack your things?"

"I'm almost done." Betsy disappeared in the bathroom and came out after a few seconds with her shampoo.

"God, we are _so_ going to be late." Kevin mumbled to himself.

"Chill out. Oh!"

"_No!_ Don't answer the phone! It's the fourth call you've received in an hour, who is calling you at _six o'clock in the morning_? Don't pick."

"Hello?"

"Kevin? It's late!" Addison's voice came from downstairs.

"Tell your kid this, not me."

"_My_ kid?" she smirked.

"She's _on the phone_. She did it on purpose because I told her not to pick up."

Addison laughed. "I'll go get her, I'll bring our things to the car." she told him pecking his lips quickly.

"Put down that phone kid, or I'll take it." she sang entering Betsy's room.

The girl frowned. "Don't call me kid."

"Oh right. Sorry baby."

"I have to go, I'll call you later." Betsy said to the person on the other line. "Jeez Addison, are you high or something?"

"Sorry. It's caffeine. When I wake up so early I need coffee, and I guess I drank too much of it... _Are you ready?_"

"Almost."

_**x**_

"This food is amazing." Addison stated that evening, at the hotel's restaurant. "I've never even dreamed about eating something like this." she took another spoon of paella.

"See? Europe was a good idea." Kevin teased her.

"Honey, Europe was my idea."

Betsy looked up from her phone. How much does it cost to call someone from here?"

"A whole lot, don't even think about it."

"I _am_ thinking about it."

"Who do you have to call?" Addison asked.

The girl shrugged.

"It's Cameron, isn't it?" she giggled like a teen girl.

"Ugh, I don't want to hear it." Kevin mumbled, taking a piece of bread.

"Addison, what did you tell him about Cameron?"

"Nothing, just that-"

"_I don't want to hear it._" her husband interrupted. "Wait! Did you have sex with the boy?"  
"Mind your own business." Betsy snorted.

"You are my business!"

"In your dreams." she winked.

"Betsy!"

"What?" she turned towards Addison with a peaceful expression. "Can we go to the pool later? The food may be amazing, but the hotel is even better."

_**x**_

"The sun is hot. Did you put on some sunscreen?" Addison asked Betsy the next day as they sunbathed at the beach.

"No, I don't need it. Stop annoying me, I'm listening to the best sing ever." the girl didn't open her eyes.

"Hey!" Addison sat up, looking at her sternly. "Don't talk to me like that! Betsy? Betsy, did you..." she grabbed the girl's I-pod and took the earphones away from her ears. "Betsy! Am I clear?"

"Fine! I'm going for a walk. Where's Kevin?"

"Hey girls!" Kevin walked by them and placed a soft kiss on his wife's temple. "I brought ice-cream!"

"I'll see you later." Betsy said before disappearing in the crowd.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I told her off and now she hates me... where have you been?"

"I walked around in the nearby... Honey, she doesn't hate you, and you know that. She just doesn't know how to act around us sometimes."

"Well, I still think she likes you more than me."

"She doesn't." he kissed her. "You're very likable, lovable."

"Kev, you have to say that, you're my husband." she told him as he kissed her again.

"Don't care. Besides, she talked about Cameron to you, not me."

"That's because-"

"Shhh..."

"Mmm, okay, if you say so..." she teased him by running her hands all over his biceps.

"Here, eat this." Kevin showed her the ice-cream. "It's your favorite flavor, stracciatella."

"I have a better idea." she said, mumbling something that sounded like 'lick it off me'.

**A/N: so, ice-cream, hot sun and sex at the beach. I only hope the didn't did it in front of everyone :p**

**Next chapter, more Spain. You'll like it, 'cause it's my favorite chapter. I couldn't wait to write it.**


	15. Spain, Don't Freak Out

"Add, I think I forgot my mobile phone in our room." Kevin stood up as Addison took the last sip of her cappuccino.

"Since you're going upstairs, will you please wake Betsy up? I want to go to another city today, to visit."

"Sure honey." he pecked her lips. "I'll be back in a few, wait for us in the hall."

"Nu-hu." she shook her head. "I think I'll wait for you near the swimming pool."

"Already looking at other men?" Kevin joked.

"What else can I do, Spanish men are hot." she stuck out her tongue.

"But I'm hotter." he pecked her lips again.

"Oh, really?"

"Really." and again.

_**x**_

Kevin hummed as he crossed the short distance between his room and Betsy's, slipping his phone in his pocket.

He knocked slightly, not wanting to waker her harshly. "Betsy? It's me, you up?" he said, not too loud.

The girl didn't answer, and after knocking again with the same result he decided to try and open the door. To his surprise, it wasn't locked.

"Hey, why isn't the door locked? Ha! Betsy!" he turned around quickly, as the girl started screaming angrily.

"Ever heard of knocking, Kevin?" she yelled.

"Out." he turned around again, glaring sternly at the unfortunate boy. "Get out now!"

"Don't you dare go!" Betsy hissed, grabbing his wrist.

"You are grounded. For two months. No, it's better until the end of summer."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say." Betsy was annoyed. "Kevin look, Paco and I were kinda busy before you walked in, so do you mind _leaving_."

"I won't leave young lady, be sure of that, and _I told you to go_, Pack or whatever."

"_Paco_."

"Go. Now." he pointed to the door, raising his voice even more. Paco finally managed to part himself from Betsy, and he exited the room without looking back.

"What did you say?" Kevin snarled when he heard Betsy mumble something.

"I SAID YOU ARE RUINING MY LIFE AND EVEN IF YOU SAY I NEED YOU I NEVER ASKED FOR THAT! I've never asked for a family."

"Well, I've never asked to catch you having sex, but it happened." Kevin lowered his voice as well, letting out a small sigh. "Go get dressed before I start yelling again, I'll call Addison to tell her we're a bit late." he took out his phone, watching the teenage girl as she picked up some clothes and headed towards the bathroom. Before getting in she turned around.

"I'm not grounded."

"Of course you are." Kevin told her as he dialed his wife's number.

"Addison won't let you."

"She will."

"No way. And anyway, _I _won't let you."

_**x**_

"_What the hell happened?_" Addison put her bag and sunglasses on Betsy's bed, crossing her arms expectantly.

"He grounded me fro the whole summer!" Betsy cried out.

Addison turned towards her husband.

"Because she was having sex with a boy."

"Oh, do you want me to screw a girl next time?"

"Betsy, language!" the redhead spatted.

"But he's ridiculous!"

"I'm not and you're grounded." he glared at her. "Right Addison?"

"You're giving me an headache." she whined.

"But it's not fair!" the girl exclaimed again.

"Kevin, you knew she had sex."

"That doesn't mean that I like it!"

"Neither do I, but what can we do about it?"

"Have you talked to her about it? You should talk to her about it." he started to walk away.

"Kev, you do not get to leave!"

"Addison, I'm not staying here as you talk to her about sex."

"What the hell, you're not giving me a sex talk, I've been having it for years."

"_What?_"

"Okay Kevin, you can go." Addison sighed rubbing her temple.

After her husband had closed the door, she sat on the girl's bed and motioned her to do the same. When she didn't – but stayed still where she was, her arms folded and with and angry frown on her face – she sighed again.

"How old were you?"

"Thirteen and four months."

She nodded, trying to figure out what to say next.

"Who was the guy?"

The girl shrugged. "Mattia, an Italian boy. He was on vacation."

"Do you like foreign boys?" Addison raised her eyebrow.

"Kinda..."

"Did it hurt?"

"Normal I guess."

"You used protection, right?"

"Yes, Addison." the teenager rolled her eyes.

"Don't 'yes Addison' me, girl. We're talking about it as very mature people."

Betsy chuckled, rolling her eyes again.

Addison ignored it, slightly annoyed. "Betsy, since you have a lot of sex," she made a grimace. "We should talk about what could happen."

"I know I could get pregnant, Addison. But I won't." she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not talking about that Betsy, that's the least. There are a lot of diseases you could get. Sleeping around like that, it's dangerous."

"Are you saying I am a whore?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Of course it is."

"Honey... don't be stupid. You're not a whore and even if you were I'd never say such a thing. I love you too much. I promise to never even think it."

"You're mawkish." Betsy stayed annoyed. "And you said I'm a whore. And I'm on the pill, bu the way." she left, slamming the door behind her.

_**x**_

"How did you two meet?" the teen sat next to Addison on the deckchair, in front of the pool.

"Have you forgiven me? I didn't really mean to say you're a whore. I just-"

"Jeez Addison, drop it. I know." she smirked.

The woman sighed in relief, but raised an eyebrow. "You were making a scene."

"I was having fun." she winked. "So? You have Kevin?"

"One of my patients was married to Kevin's colleague. When she gave birth, he came to see her."

"Nice."

"He still thinks you should be grounded."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. I'll work on the whole summer thing though."

"You can't be serious... he can't!"

"He can. Sorry."

"There is no way in hell..."

Addison glared at her.

"It's not fair!"

"Accept it."

"Come one Addison..."

"He's already decided Betsy, and I agree just a little."

"I can't believe you. You're ruining my life!" she got up and started to walk away fast.

"Betsy!"

"Say what you want Addison; this time I'm not listening to you."

**A/N: have you seen next episode's promo? O.o**


	16. Smiling Day

**A/N: Addison managed to get Betsy grounded only for two weeks, but she really can't stay in that house any longer...**

Betsy silently tiptoed towards the front door. She was grounded, strictly grounded for another three days, but she couldn't take it anymore. Kevin was making her go mad when he wanted to look through her text messages (Addison had luckily stopped him) or when he forced her to do her summer homework with him or Addison. She was stuck at home, with nothing to do. She hadn't seen Cameron in more than a week! So when she heard her adoptive parents going to bed – and she was sure they already were fast asleep – she decided to sneak out and meet her not-yet-but-future boyfriend at the pub his parents owned.

With and hand on the handle, she glanced at the wooden stairs. The house was silent, and the only light was the moon's reflection on the windows.

Slowly, she walked outside. She had to walk, because even though she'd gotten her driving license a few months earlier she'd get in more trouble taking one of the cars without asking.

As she went in direction of the pub, she bit her lip nervously. She didn't have her fake ID anymore, but she was sure she could convince the bartender to give her some good drink. Maybe she'd have more chances if she unbuttoned the first two buttons of her blouse...

Betsy ran her hand through her dark hair, that she had previously curled with Addison's help. She liked it; it was long and it made her look older. Probably she could pretend to be in college. Studying psychology. Not that she wanted to go to college, but if she had to choose she'd do psychology.

The teen pushed the door open, and immediately smiled. She liked how it felt to be surrounded by people and endless talking and the adrenaline of knowing she could get caught.

She sat on a stool and glanced around to see if Cameron was there. Sometimes he hung out there with his friends, although his parents always kept their eyes on him and didn't serve them alcoholic drinks.

"Hey. How old are you?"

But before she could answer the man – probably Cameron's dad – she spotted in the crowd someone who – if they saw her – would run to Addison straightaway.

"Crap. I need to get away." she mumbled grabbing her purse.

She sighed as she closed the door behind her, with a last glance in direction of Pete and Cooper.

As she walked, a pout appeared on the girl's face. She didn't want to go home, it was early and she was annoyed. What's summer for if not to have fun and do crazy things? Besides, she didn't need it to be something crazy or illegal, but it had to be _something_. She couldn't stand to stay home any longer. That's when she had an idea. She realized she had already been in that road, it was where Pete and Violet lived with Lucas. She recalled staying in the house for a few days when she was younger and her aunt had dropped her at Addison's practice. Her father's practice...

She hadn't talked to Violet many times since she lived with Addison and Kevin, because she resented her a little and she was busy making everybody go crazy. But now she wanted to. Plus, Addison and Kevin maybe wouldn't get too mad if they knew she had been with Violet and not getting drunk.

She hesitantly knocked on the door, but she felt a bit of excitement as well. Lucas now should be already nine... he was only one back then.

Violet opened the door, and Betsy could see her astonishment.

"Betsy?"

"Hi." she smiled. "Can I come in for a while?" she stepped in the house before the woman answered.

"How are you?" Violet followed her. "Why are you here alone this late?"

"It's not that late..." the girl glanced at the kitchen's clock. "It's eleven. Where you sleeping."

"No, I was actually trying to get Lucas to bed. He's not tired, apparently."

"I was having a walk and recognized your house, and so I thought I could stop by."

Violet probably was a little suspicious – Addison told her everything Betsy did, after all. Still, she didn't comment and changed the subject instead. "Do you want to say hi to Lucas? Over there." she leaded her to her son's bedroom. "Lucas, look who's here. Do you remember Betsy? Aunt Addison and I told you something about her, right?"

They boy nodded absentmindedly. "Do you want to see my new video game?" he asked Betsy, and she walked closer.

"Actually mister, you're going to bed."

Betsy looked at her briefly and turned to the blond kid again. "Yeah Lucas, you can show it to me tomorrow. We can go to the practice and play if you want." she didn't know if she was really going to do that.

"Okay..." he said weakly.

Betsy waved at him and went back to the kitchen, looking around at the photographs and stuff.

"Do I have to go?" she asked Violet when she came in.

"No, I'll make some hot cocoa, sit down. And we could also talk about what you were doing tonight. Don't worry, I'm so tired that tomorrow I won't even remember it, so I won't tell, I promise."

_**x**_

Kevin wrapped his arms around Addison, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. "What is she doing?"

"Playing with Lucas. When she asked me if she could come to the practice with me this morning I thought she was just bored... but I don't know, they've been sitting together in what was Dell's office for hours, and she hasn't stopped smiling once."

"Really?" Kevin's mouth opened in a big smile as he looked at his wife in surprise.

"And earlier, right before I called them for lunch, she was tickling him. Seriously Kevin, I don't know if I've ever seen her this happy before."

He looked at Betsy again, staring proudly at the girl. "She seems... peaceful."

"Yeah, maybe because we didn't ask her anything about last night." she joked.

"She can't think we haven't noticed." Kevin chuckled, watching as Betsy rolled her eyes at Lucas and tried to explain him for the third time how the game worked.

"Maybe she'll tell us, if we let her understand that we know she went out."

Kevin nodded in agreement and then looked from Betsy to Addison, thinking.

"What?" she asked.

"Addie..." he stopped, glancing at Lucas again. "Maybe it's too soon, maybe we're not ready, maybe we don't need this..."

"What?" she repeated with a frown.

"... but maybe, we could adopt a baby."

Addison opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Then, a small smiled appeared on her lips.

"Really?"

"You'd like that?"

"Kevin I... I'd love it, yeah." she cupped his face with her hands, looking into her eyes.

"Me too." he breathed, capturing her lips in a kiss.

_**x**_

"Hey guys." Addison sat on th couch next to Lucas, while Kevin stayed on the doorway.

"Hi Aunt Addie!"

"Is it time to go home?" Betsy asked, a little disappointed that what basically was her first day of fun was coming to an end.

"We may go out to dinner." Kevin told her as he made a step forward. "But only if you're okay with it and... we kinda have to talk to you about something first."

"Kevin had this idea about an hour ago, and we wanted to know what you thought about it."

Betsy nodded slightly, and Lucas looked up at Addison.

Kevin met Addison's eyes and nodded encouragingly, knowing she wanted to be the one to tell it.

"We were thinking that one day, if you're okay with it, we could try to adopt another kid. Not now, not even soon maybe, but when everybody in the family is ready."

The girl felt a smile grow on her lips when Addison said 'family'. To her the concept was still strange and surreal, but not as far as it was some months earlier. She had learned to trust Addison and Kevin and although she was reluctant about telling them even the smallest things, she knew she was slowly starting to be a part of their daily life. She was a little too proud to admit it, but she liked her life right now. She liked having friends who actually understood her, and even if she still liked to act rebel she also felt... more in place.

She blinked. "Yeah, maybe... soon."

**A/N: Sorry if I ended the chapter like this, I feel like it's a lame end. Do you think that Betsy changed too soon? I mean, she won't stop to do what she wants, but she'll listen to them a little more. Anyway in the next chapters we're skipping forward, because in chapter 19 there will be Betsy's birthday again! Tell me what you think of this chapter!**


	17. Sweet Dreams

**A/N: how the hell am I supposed to wait until September? Five minutes after the end of the finale I was already looking for spoilers...**

Betsy let out a happy sigh as she lay down on the bench with her head on Cameron's lap.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked her, running his hand over her cheek.

"Very." she gave him a bright smile.

She was amazed by her feelings towards the boy. He was different from all the ones she hung out with in the past or the ones she hit on in bars. Cameron was her age, he attended her school. He had a normal family, he was actually sweet and caring. To her, all that was new. She liked going to the park or to the movies or out to dinner. Walking around after school, or even when they studied together fo a test. All she did with her exes was have sex or take drugs. She and Cameron had decided to wait a little longer before having sex, but Betsy didn't care. She was actually happy, her life was finally great and even if she didn't say it she was grateful to Kevin and Addison.

"What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know..." she thought for a minute. "You could come to my house to watch a movie."

"Okay. Oh, and... my Mom and Evie want you to come to dinner soon."

Betsy chuckled slightly. About two weeks earlier Cameron had to stop home because he forgot his phone, and he had introduced her to his parents and younger sister Evelyn. It was a nice experience, they all were cheerful and lovely.

On the other hand, the first time Betsy had taken him home didn't go so well.

Kevin started to ask him every kind of question that came to his mind, and exactly when they had managed to sneak upstairs, Addison had come home and called them down to meet Cameron.

She giggled at the memory, and looked at her boyfriend again. "We could have lunch here, go home to watch a movie and then have dinner at your place."

"Perfect." he pecked her lips as she sat up, but she deepened the kiss.

"Let's go." Cameron said when they parted, taking her hand.

"Oh no!" she looked at her phone in horror.

"What baby?"

"They will kill me." she groaned. "Look Cam, I have to go. Sorry."

"Betsy!" he called after her; she turned around with a small sigh.

"I have four missed calls, eleven unread messages and one voice mail message. So, I think they finally allowed Addison and Kevin to take our little Henry Jacob home."

Cameron squeezed her arm understanding. "Go."

_**x**_

"Where have you been?" Kevin asked her as soon as she burst into the house.

"It's a Saturday morning, I was out with Cameron... Where is he?"

Kevin glared at her, a taunt on the tip of his tongue. But seeing the irrepressible excitement on the face of who was now hid daughter as she asked about who was now his son, his face softened.

"Come." taking her hand, he leaded her upstairs to the new nursery. Betsy had helped to choose the furniture, the color of the walls. Yellow, with little orange flowers above the dark crib.

Addison was sitting on a rocking chair, with Henry in her arms. Betsy's eyes shone as she walked closer, unable to look away from her new brother.

"Come here, look at him. Isn't he more adorable than usual?"

"Can I...?

"Of course." the redhead nodded with a smile, placing the seven-month-old in the teen's arms.

_**x**_

Betsy groaned, throwing her pillow on the floor. Five. It was the fifth time that Henry awoke her with his crying that night! Snorting loudly, she got off of bed and stormed out of her bedroom, walking fast towards her adoptive parent's one.

"_Addison_." she folded her arms angrily. "I swear if he starts crying another time I'll go sleep at Cameron's!"

The woman turned towards her, rocking Henry in her arms soothingly. "You're not going to sleep at Cameron's. I'm sorry he's waking you up, he's little cranky. It's his first night here."

The girl rolled her eyes with a sigh. "I don't even know why I agreed to this in the first place."

Addison froze, staring at speechless. Betsy could see the hurt on her face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." she said. "Where's Kevin?"

"He went to warm up a bottle."

The girl nodded, making a step forward and brushing Addison's shoulder. "Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I love Henry, I just... I' cranky too." she said giving Addison a half-smile.

**A/N: It's short and not at all well-written. I know, I'm sorry. I promise you next chapter will be longer and way better than this one.**


	18. Something To Talk About

"Kevin, today I went to Betsy's school to talk to her teachers."

Kevin lifted Henry up in the air and the baby giggled, kicking a little with his legs. "You like it, buddy? Wanna do it again?"

Henry giggled louder, and Kevin kissed his forehead.

Finally, he turned towards his wife. "Sorry babe, what were you saying?"

"Betsy often skips her chemistry lessons. Apparently she doesn't like the teacher and they... I don't know, argued, and when she got an F in a test Betsy told her something disrespectful and decided not to attend the classes anymore."

Kevin was shocked. "How do we not know about this?"

"She didn't tell us, and at school they probably thought we were too busy to go and talk to them, I guess." Addison took Henry from Kevin's arms and smiled at him, hoping her baby would calm her anger.

The man sighed. "Just when we think it's all right."

"I wonder if she tells us the truth. When she says she's going out with Cameron or Dee and Sacha, I believe her but is she telling us the truth? Because really, if that's how it is at school then she could also go god-knows-where doing god-knows-what."

"Addison, we'll talk to her as soon as she comes home. No, you know what, I'll call her now and tell her to come straight here."

As Addison sat on the couch and grabbed some of Henry's toys from the floor to play with him, Kevin angrily dialed his daughter's number.

"She's not answering, Addison."

"She's at a rugby match, probably she doesn't hear the phone."

"I'll try until she picks up."

"_Kevin! I didn't hear the phone! Did something happen?"_

"Where are you?"

"_Still at the stadium! What's-"_ the girl yelled to cover up the noise of the fans.

"It will take you fifteen minutes to come home from there by car, and I expect you to be here in that amount of time. Is that clear?"

"_But Kevin..."_ Betsy was speechless. She didn't understand.

"Do as I told you, Betsy." he sighed.

_**x**_

Betsy didn't understand. Kevin's tone of voice was angry, very angry, but she hadn't done bad things lately. Most of the times she listened to them, and the only friend of her old ones she still saw from time to time was Melinda. She hadn't sneaked out, stayed out late, nor taken drugs. Had they found out she still smoked?

When she opened the front door, the house was silent. Henry was asleep in the playpen, and walking through the entrance hall she heard whispers from the kitchen.

"Hello." she stepped in. "Do you mind telling me what I did?"

"You're on thin ice." Addison told her with a glare.

"Okay, but _why_?"

"Let's see, you got an F on a test, you insulted your chemistry teacher in front of all your classmates and you ditched almost all the lessons from that moment on! Isn't that enough to be furious?"

In the other room, Henry let out a whimper staring to cry.

"I'll go." Kevin closed the door, knowing that soon Addison and Betsy would start yelling at each other.

"You don't know the full story Addison, you're only believing their version of the facts! There are two sides to every story!"

"Then tell me, Betsy, what's your side of _this_ story?"

"You won't believe me. Why waste my breath trying to explain?" she started walking away.

"Try me!" the woman threw her arms up in frustration. "Where are you going? I want you to talk to me, Betsy – this talk isn't over!"

"Girls!" Kevin exclaimed loudly, still rocking Henry gently. "If you have to shout, don't do it in the living room. Betsy, get back to the kitchen right now and talk to Addison. We're already angry enough, don't make it worse."

"But I didn't to anything!" the girl looked at the two of them, swallowing her anger.

"Did you curse your teacher?"

"She always-"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"And did you skip her lessons?" Addison asked again.

"Yes, but _come on_!"

"Come on what? Come to the kitchen, we have something to discuss and I'm not going to raise my voice again in front of my son."

"Yes your son, Addison. And who am I?"

"You are someone just as important to us than he is, and you are someone I'm very angry with right now. Did you hear me? Come." she impatiently waited for her to finally follow her, feeling a slight bit of guilt when she noticed the girl's tears.

Both Addison and Kevin had realized how Betsy's question about Henry actually was the heart of the matter, but they needed to calm down a little first.

"If you want to explain, I'm all ears." the redhead sighed heavily collapsing on a chair.

Betsy simply looked at her for a while, but Addison didn't say anything else.

"She hates me! From the day my principal found me having sex at school and I got suspended, she hates me! And it's been what, more than a year? I couldn't take it anymore. I studied for that test, Addison, I knew I could do it. She just found every single little insignificant mistake she could find and gave me an F!"

"Betsy, I want to believe you, I do, but if you didn't deserve that F then she wouldn't have given in to you." Addison rubbed her temple.

"See, you don't believe me! Ask her to show you the test, Addison. You're a doctor, you're good at chemistry, so you'll be able to tell if I really did deserve an F or not!"

"Stop yelling. I'll go talk to her again, and I'll see the test. But even though she hates you and did it on purpose you shouldn't have disrespect her and skipped her classes. School is important, there are way too many children in the world who can't attend school, and you are one of the lucky ones. School is what determine your future, and the only reason why you'll be allowed not to go is if you're not feeling well or there is something important _that I know of_ that you can't miss. Understood?"

"I finally managed to get him back to sleep." Kevin said as he entered the room. "So?"

"So she doesn't believe me!"

"I doubt that, Betsy."

"I didn't say I didn't believe you. I said it sounds strange to me that your teacher would give you an F on a correct test."

Betsy sighed heavily, looking away annoyed. She got up silently, staring at her feet. "I have a date with Cameron tonight, I need to shower and change clothes."

Kevin stepped in front of the door to block her way, giving her a knowing look.

"Ha, seriously?"

"Please don't fight us." Addison told her. Kevin kept staring at her, softly but firmly, hoping she'd give up easily and not start another fight.

"I still want to talk about it, Betsy."

"Well I don't. We already did and I told you everything, there's nothing more to say."

"There's a lot to say. For example 'I'm sorry' or 'I won't do it anymore'."

Betsy chuckled and turned to look at her. "Well, I can't say I'm sorry, because I think that fucking bitch deserved it. And that probably won't be the last time I do it, at least until she starts treating me as the other students."

"Don't, speak, like, that." Addison spatted through clenched teeth.

"Send Cameron a message, tell him you won't be going out tonight. Then it's either we keep talking without cursing anyone or you go up to your room until dinner time."

Betsy made a disgusted grimace, thinking about her options. If she walked out of the house now, they'd see her and ground her forever. If she stayed there with them, she'd only get more angry and upset. Maybe she could sneak out from her room's window...

_**x**_

Addison sighed, resting her head on Kevin's shoulder as they sat close on the couch.

"I hate fighting with her. It leaves me helpless and sad."

"I think she feels jealous about Henry." Kevin kissed the top of her head.

"Me too, but I can't understand why. We still spend time with her, I always ask her about her day and about Cameron, she never seemed upset."

"Having a baby in the house is difficult. I remember when my brother kept me up all night, I always claimed I hated him. But then we grew closer and we shared every secret." he shrugged. "Betsy will get used to it, she just needs time."

Addison stayed silent for a while, letting her husband hold her tighter. "I'm afraid she sneaked out."

Kevin looked at her thoughtful. "Could be. If she wants to make us angrier anyway."

"I think I'll go check on her. I wanna talk to her without ending up yelling and telling her off." she got up, heading towards the stairs.

"I'll start dinner in the meanwhile."

_**x**_

Addison knocked gently on the door, hoping to hear an answer.

"Yes?"

She held back a relieved sigh, peeking into the room. "Can I come in?"

"Yes."

Betsy was lying on the bed, with a book open beside her and her cellphone in her hand. "Cameron didn't answer my message, I think he got mad. And I guess you came in to confiscate my phone so here, take it."

Addison stared at her in shock when the girl handed her the phone, and she quickly walked over to Betsy's bed.

"I'm sorry about Cameron, and I'm here to talk. The phone – you can keep it, but you're still grounded."

"You thought I sneaked out, didn't you?"

Addison smiled and stroked her cheek. "I did, and I'm glad you didn't do that."

"I was about to, but what's the point if Cameron's mad at me for not going out? I'd have only make you two angrier and I feel too exhausted to fight again." the teen closed her eyes briefly.

"Good, because I am too. I wanted to..." Addison stopped, trying to find better words. "Are you maybe, somehow, jealous of Henry?"

Betsy didn't say anything at first, and she fought the impulse to turn around.

"I just think that you adopted him when he was just seven months old; you'll raise him and he'll call you Mom and Dad. And I know you wouldn't have any problem with me calling you like that, but I can't. And that leaves my kinda out of the picture, of the family."

"Oh, Betsy. Honey, you could never be out of the family, You're part of it, and we love you. No matter how many times a day we fight, no matter what you do or say. We'll always consider you our daughter, and we will always love you more than life itself."

"Nobody has ever loved me more than life itself."

Addison kept running her fingers through her hair gently. "Yes they have. Your parents, Betsy; Dell and Heather loved you just as much as Kevin and I do. They didn't want to die and leave you, Betsy, if they could be here they would. But stuff happens, and I'm really sorry I couldn't help you sooner. I'm sorry you had to get through what you went through. But you're here now, and we can offer you the life you've always wanted and that you deserve."

The girl eventually looked up at Addison and gave her a small nod, silently showing her she believed her.

"It will take time, to get used to it completely. But one day you'll remember the past and think 'it's just the past'."

**A/N: I thought about Betsy not coming home when Kevin called her, but showing up only late at night. But then I realized it was a thing she would have done in the beginning of the story, not now. Hope you liked it anyway. Oh, by the way, this is the last chapter of drama, so I hope you enjoyed it :D**


	19. That's A Family Thing

"Hey Betsy, what are you planning for your birthday?"

"I was thinking about seeing Cameron in the early afternoon, but coming home for dinner. We could just... cook something and talk. And maybe let this little man stay up a little longer, right Henry?" with a giggle, the girl reached out to stroke the baby's cheek. He wrapped his hand around her fingers weakly, making Betsy chuckle slightly. "I'm telling you now, I will spoil him forever and ever. I'm gonna be the cool one for him, his cool older sister. And you'll be the mean parents who don't let him do anything..."

At this point, Addison couldn't hold back a laughter anymore. It was so good, watching Betsy with Henry. She loved him, adored him, was always ready to play with him. She got used quickly to have a newborn around, making Addison's hopes become true. She finally had everything she ever dreamed of.

"Then you could come do the shopping with me later. We can cook whatever you want."

"Okay. Oh, and I also need a dress. I saw one in a shop the other day, and I really hope they haven't sold it yet. It was the best dress I've ever seen in my life."

Addison laughed again as Kevin rolled his eyes. "We'll go look."

"What about we invite also our families for your birthday? Like Addison's brother and father and my parents and brothers."

Betsy shrugged. "Okay."

"Only if you want to."

"It's okay, Archer's cool."

Addison raised her eyebrows. "He told you something, didn't he?"

"Of course." the girl giggled. "But I promised I wouldn't tell you."

"Oh God." Addison groaned, knowing it was either something about sex or about her.

Betsy laughed louder before standing up and taking her plate to the sink. "I'm going to get changed, then we can go."

_**x**_

Some hours later, Betsy was still in search of the perfect dress. She tried on the one she saw days earlier, but she didn't like it anymore. Addison looked with her through a hundred of other dresses, skirts, jeans, shirts. The soon-to-be-seventeen-year-old wanted something comfortable but elegant, not too much though. She didn't like pink nor purple, and hated yellow. Addison really didn't know what to suggest anymore.

"Can I tell you something?" Betsy asked from the changing room as she tried on a green casual dress.

Addison raised her eyes from the blouse she was looking at. "Sure."

"You can't tell Kevin in any way. Promise me."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

"I want to have sex with Cam on my birthday. I think it's time. I'm getting hornier and hornier as-"

"Okay! Well. Are you sure?" she approached the changing room and pulled aside the curtain to look at her daughter. "It's an important step. I know you've had sex before, but with Cameron it's different, right?"

Betsy nodded. "It is. How do I look?"

"You're beautiful. If you're really, really sure then I'm okay with it. But be careful, okay?"

"Addison, it's just sex. I've done it plenty of times..." the woman glared at her. "... and I love Cameron. At least I think I do. I haven't felt like this before."

"Love is when you smile thinking of one person. When you can live without them but you don't want to. When you feel complete only with them, but are willing to let them go for their happiness. That's love."

The teen thought about it for a moment. "Then I think it's love."

"I'm glad you're happy. Now, I think we should buy this dress."

"Really? I think I like more the light blue one."

Addison shrugged. "We can buy both."

_**x**_

Betsy smiled when she saw Cameron on the bench. It was the park near his house, his favorite place to be when he wanted quiet. Now, he was reading a book (probably Harry Potter, his passion) and he didn't hear her walk towards him. She approached him slowly, sat beside him and gave him her brightest smile when he raised his eyes on her. "Hi there, baby." Betsy leaned in to kiss him, soft and tender, like always.

"And here comes my birthday girl." Cameron whispered, knowing what his girlfriend had in mind. Putting his book aside, he pulled Betsy in his arms and into a deeper kiss, never wanting to let her go.

"There's a secret place over there." mumbled Betsy. "Well, more of an hidden place. It would be... perfect... you know..." words mixed up and flew away in the air as Cameron kissed her again and made her sit on his lap, as he ran his long fingers through her hair and caressed her hips. Her whole body shook, she gasped for air, forced him to get up so they could get to a more private place.

Cameron started running, dragging her with him through the park. Their feet hit the green grass at the same time, their heart raced together in a new connection they hadn't experience before. When they finally arrived to Betsy's cache – only a minute in their lost-time-stair – they immediately, mutually decided to inaugurate their sanctuary. Cameron moved closer to Betsy, she entwined her arms around his neck and clinging to his waist with her legs. Soon her new dress was forgotten on the ground, and the two teenagers were lying in the leaves and flowers.

Cameron looked at her intensely before moving on top of her, his clothes and underwear joining Betsy's a few steps away. "I love you." he whispered in her neck before entering her.

Betsy waited. Cameron was moving inside her slowly and giving her all the love he felt.

"I love you too." she said as he pulled out, looking into his eyes and thinking that she was going to remember them forever.

Cameron smiled, peck her lips a few times and then got up to grab his stuff. He frowned and stopped, and Betsy gave him a questioning look as she stood up as well. "We didn't use protection." he told her simply, fear raising. It had been wonderful and perfect, just perfect, but now he felt like it was breaking down.

But Betsy smiled. "Don't worry babe." she kissed him. "I'm on the pill, we're safe."

_**x**_

When Betsy got home a few hours later, a few cars were already parked outside. She recognized Violet's and Charlotte's, and she figured the unknown ones belonged to Kevin's or Addison's brothers.

The first thing she did after opening the door was walk to the playpen and lift her little brother in the air, causing a cascade of giggles to exit his small mouth.

"Happy birthday!" hearing the chorus of voices Betsy turned around and saw her family and friends coming out of the kitchen to greet her. One by one, they all hugged her, and when Addison finally managed to held her she asked her how it went with Cameron.

"More than perfect!" Betsy giggled and released herself from her adoptive mother's arms. "Archer! I need gossip!"

Addison locked eyes with Kevin on the other side of the room, a little appalled. She then glared at her brother, hoping that someone else of the family would catch Betsy's attention soon.

**A/N: Please, accept my apology. I am terribly sorry for making you wait (for this and all the other stories) and I just hope you haven't lost interest.**

**Here is a question for you:**** as I was writing the park scenes I thought about Betsy getting pregnant since they didn't use a condom. Now, I already have the story planned, and there would be only three chapters left plus the epilogue. I wouldn't have trouble writing them, I like what I planned, but making Betsy get pregnant would surely lengthen the story. I think it's too much common as an idea though. Nowadays a lot of people write about teens having a baby, and I'm afraid it would make this story just like the others.**

**What would you like to read though?**** Would you like to see a pregnant Betsy? It's really your choice, because I like both my ideas. So, please, suggestions!**


	20. Golden News

_Crap_, Betsy thought as she slammed the door of her blue car and started the engine. She was late, and although there was a reason – well, to her it was a reason at least – she knew her parents weren't going to be happy about it. It was her brother's first birthday, after all. Henry turned one today and she couldn't even get home in time. She groaned and silently cursed the car in front of her. It was late, it was Sunday, there was traffic. Everybody was coming home after a weekend away and the streets were busy, chaotic. She glanced at the back seat, where Henry's new toy was wrapped in a shiny dark blue wrapping paper and a huge red bow. She smiled, imagining his cute little face lit up when he saw it. He would love it, of that she was sure. It was the best she could think about for him, and yes, maybe he would make Addison and Kevin go crazy with the fire truck siren, but he would love it.

She turned the radio on, _Rolling In The Deep_ by Adele jangling inside and outside of the car when she opened the window. She threw a brief look at her right, at the envelope on the passenger seat, before concentrating again on driving. She tapped on the wheel with her fingers, as a peaceful feeling rose in her heart and soul. She had a present for her parents too, and for the first time in her life she felt like she wasn't going to disappoint everyone around her, not even the people she cared about. Not this time.

_**x**_

Addison looked at the clock again, then she rested her eyes on Kevin. He was entertaining Henry showing him the presents everyone from the practice had sent him. The baby was giggling loudly and repeating 'dada' in his happy voice as he tried to grab Kevin's hand with his littler one.

"Honey, Betsy hasn't arrived yet. I told her to be here by four thirty, and it's been more than one hour. Henry's going to be hungry and sleepy soon, and I really wanted today to be special."

Hearing a note of disappointment in his wife's voice, Kevin tickled his son one last time and he stood up, walked by towards Addison and wrapped her in his tight hug. "Don't worry babe." he whispered. "It is special. See? Henry's having the best day of his life. We're here playing with him and singing his favorite songs, he's surrounded by dozens of new toys and wrapping paper – which he loves by the way – and there's your amazing apple pie on the table. It's all perfect, Adds. Betsy will be here soon. And I hope with all my heart that her excuse for being late won't be 'I was having sex'" he completed with a grimace, and Addison entwined her arms around his neck tighter as she kissed his nose.

"She won't tell us that, not if she doesn't want to start an argument. I'm not accepting that excuse today."

"And any other day?" Kevin stared at his redheaded wife in shock, and Addison rolled her eyes with a smile.

"She's past seventeen, Kev. We have less than a year until she's a major and starts doing what she wants when she wants – again."

"I really wish we'd found her sooner... I'd have more time to prepare myself. I just – I love her too much."

For an instant, an hint of regret was seen in Addison's gray-greenish eyes. "Me too. But it had to go this way, and these last few years have been some of the happiest of my life." she said.

"I'm home!" they turned in direction of the front door when they heard Betsy's loud and excited arrival. "Hi Baby-Boo!" she exclaimed, and they watched as she put aside Henry's _enormous_ present and lifted him up. "I missed you today Little Man." she kept placing small kisses on his jaw and cheeks as Henry giggled and pulled her hair.

Addison and Kevin smiled at the scene, that never failed to warm their hearts.

"I'll go take the cake and the camera!" Addison announced walking towards the kitchen.

Kevin sat on the couch and motioned to Betsy to join him with Henry.

"There's a reason I was late." she started. "_And it wasn't Cameron_." she added with a smirk when she saw Kevin's face. It wasn't the plain truth, though. She'd stayed with Cameron until almost five; losing track of time with him was so easy. It had taken her half an hour to pick up Henry's toy and drive in the traffic to her house, but she had a better excuse than her boyfriend. "Let's just wait for Addison to come back."

The woman entered the living room with a big apple pie and one light blue candlelight, and she placed it on the coffee table in front of Betsy and Kevin.

"Okay, let's take a picture first." she positioned the camera and hit the self-timer button, before hurrying to seat with her family. She took Henry's little hand in his, and placed a kiss on Betsy's cheek right as the photo was taken.

Kevin clapped is hands for Henry, and the boy giggled.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Betsy started, and everyone joined her. "Happy birthday little Henry, happy birthday to you!"

The all laughed at Henry's lost look when Kevin blew the candle, and they happily took some other photos.

"I want to give him my birthday present now!"

"It's huge, what is it?"

"You'll see." she knelt down with Henry on the floor, helping him to unwrap the gift. "What is it, Baby-Boo? It's a present, yeah, a present for your very first birthday! Look..."

Addison sat at Henry's other side, staring at them with satisfaction. When the boy finally managed to pull out his new toy, she watched his brown eyes lit up, as his sister had predicted earlier.

"Look Henry, it's a truck! It also has a siren... God, it's bigger than you." Betsy laughed as she showed her brother the fire truck, and Addison locked eyes with Kevin over their heads. Kevin was right, it was being the perfect day.

The redhead stood up again to cut the cake in slices and bring in her and Kevin's gift, a collection of Toy Story stuffed characters.

"Here." she handed Betsy her slice of cake, than she did the same with Kevin before taking a smaller piece to feed her son.

"So, Bets, what where you saying about the reason you were late?"

Betsy looked at Kevin, then at Addison, and cleaned her mouth with a napkin before smiling brightly. "I have news. _Good_ news. And they're big, really big. You'll like them."

"_Betsy_." Addison remarked, causing her to laugh softly.

"Cameron and I applied to college a while ago. I didn't tell you because I was sure they wouldn't accept me, and I wanted to surprise you anyway. Today we got the answer." she smiled again, and forced herself to look up to meet their excited eyes.

"And...?"

"And, they accepted me. Well, us. We applied to the same college and, oh God, it all seems like a dream, I've never wanted to go to college but now... I am so happy."

Addison leaned in over Henry and hugged her as tight as could, unable to stop some proud tears to fall.

"And where, where are you going?" Kevin stammered a little as he realized he couldn't keep his eyes off of his amazing daughter.

"UCLA."

And she wasn't only making her adoptive parents proud of who she was becoming, she was also accomplishing the last dream her dad had.


	21. Bye Bye

"Cam." Betsy stretched her arms a little and yawned, turning around slowly to face her boyfriend.

"Yeah baby." he mumbled, his eyes still closed.

She smiled warmly and kissed his cheek, thinking that he was hers and only hers. She didn't know when and how she finally gave in and started to trust other people, but she did and now she had a family, something she had missed since she was seven.

"That's it, Cam. Tomorrow we'll officially leave for college!" she was feeling so excited about it, about this new part of her life that was beginning. It made her feel older, almost an adult. But, strangely, it didn't scare her. It simply made her see a new side of her life, something she always considered a dream, an impossible aim, a stupid thing that would never belong to her. But now, at seventeen (going on eighteen) she was happy and optimistic.

She crashed her lips onto his, a gesture that had the power to wake him up completely.

"You're beautiful." he told her, pulling her as close as possible and inhaling her natural scent. "I am so happy to have you, Bets."

"Trust me Cam, I am the one to be considered happy." she answered with a bright smile. "Come on, get up! We have to do a lot of things today!"

Cameron groaned as he sat up straighter on his bed, knowing the most of the things Betsy had to do were spending the day at the hairdresser and buying more clothes than he could ever imagine.

"So," the girl continued, pulling a long white t-shirt over her head. "We're having breakfast with your parents and grandparents downstairs, and then we'll finish packing your stuff. Hopefully your dad will help. I promised Addison and Kevin we'd eat lunch at this new place Addison loves... we gotta be there at half past twelve. My hairdresser appointment is at three, but I'd like to spend a few hours with Henry if you don't mind." she zipped up her black jeans and took her hairbrush out of her purse. "I should be done by five maximum... Do you want to hang out with me and Addison?"

He rolled his eyes as he watched her put her makeup on. "No thanks. I'd rather spend some time with Evie and my parents before we live... but you have fun."

Betsy rolled her eyes as well, impressed by how much her boyfriend could hate shopping.

"So we'll have dinner together? Or we just see each other tomorrow morning."

"I don't know babe, we'll see." he got up and lovingly pecked her lips."Mmm, nice lip gloss."

They laughed, holding each other tight.

"I'm happy." Betsy said, kissing Cameron's neck and caressing his nape.

"I'm happy too."

When they went downstairs a few minutes later, Cameron's mother Hailey had just placed breakfast on the table where Evelyn, Micah and Cameron's grandparents Audrey and Simon were sitting.

"Hi Betsy!" Evie waved at her with excitement, and Betsy returned her smile with a wink.

"Good morning." Micah greeted them before taking a sip of orange juice.

"What would you like to eat, sweetie?"

Betsy sat down between Evie and Cameron, holding back a chuckle. Hailey was always so kind to her, even kinder than Addison could be. "I'll have some cookies and coffee, please."

"Here you are. Sugar?"

"Yes, two, please. Thank you." she took the mug and sipped the hot coffee, savoring its taste with her eyes closed. If there was a thing she needed in the morning, that was coffee.

"How are your parents, dear?"

"They're good." she smiled at her boyfriend's family. "They have their hands full with little Henry and they're going crazy about me leaving, but apart from that, they're good."

"I bet my son has something to do with your father going crazy." Micah winked.

"You're right." Betsy laughed, exchanging a quick glance with Cameron. She didn't exactly tell Addison and Kevin that she was sleeping at Cameron's house, although she was pretty sure that they at least suspected it. Saying goodbye to her friends from school before college had been a great excuse, but the look Addison gave her as she walked out of the front door the previous evening told her she knew the truth. She still had to figure out why she was allowing her to do it – it hadn't been so much time since their last big fight after all, just less than a year – but she was glad she could now rely on her adoptive parents without worrying about who was going to start the yelling.

"I have something I'd like you to give them, Betsy." Micah stood up and picked up a box with several bottles in it.

"I produced that wine with the grape I have in my vineyard, girl." Simon added with his hoarse voice. "It's the best you can find in this state."

Betsy nodded. "Thank you. They'll appreciate it so much. I wish I had something to give you in return."

Hailey put her hand on hers and gave her her sweetest look. "Loving my son is the best thing you could ever give me."

_**x**_

"Hey, here you are!" Betsy put her sunglasses on the table and lowered to give Henry a kiss.

"Hi, honey. Cameron."

"How are you?"

Cameron sat in front of Kevin, who was trying to hide his jealousy for his daughter's sake. "I'm great, thank you, Mrs. Nelson. What about you?"

"We're good." Addison squeezed Kevin's hand and moved her gaze towards Betsy. She looked radiant, happiness was now a constant part of her. "We missed you last night, sweetheart. Violet and Pete stopped by with Lucas and he asked about you."

"Lucas?" Cameron asked with questioning eyes.

"He's the son of Addison's colleagues Pete and Violet. He's about ten years old now, right?"

"Yeah he is." Addison nodded.

"So, are you ready for your big day?" Kevin studied Cameron over the menu. Deep down he knew he was a good guy and great – not perfect though, he suspected – for Betsy, but after all the girl had been through in her life, especially after Dell's death and before they adopted her, he felt over-protective and extra-cautious when she couldn't be. Plus, he was a cop.

"I'm excited. UCLA is really close to where I've always lived, but staying at the campus and not at my parents' house makes me feel more mature and surely this is the start of a new phase of my life. Our life." he turned his head towards Betsy and took her hand in his, smiling at her in his usual bright smile. "I'm glad I get to spend the next years of my life beside your daughter."

Cameron didn't say the word forever in his speech, but everybody at that table knew that he meant to stay with Betsy for the rest of his life.

_**x**_

The next morning, after the four parents had helped Cameron and Betsy to fill the car with their stuff, they all reunited in front of the Nelsons' house to say their goodbyes. Some guys from the practice were there too, excited to see Dell's daughter leave for college.

Addison, now unable to hold back her happy tears, pulled Betsy into a tight hug and caressed her hair sweetly. "We'll come and visit in the weekend." she whispered in her ear. "We'll take Henry with us, alright? And..."

"Addie, I'm not going to the moon. We'll still be in the same city, I'll simply be at the campus of UCLA instead of our home."

"I know, I just..."

Betsy smiled at her. "I'll visit soon, give me the time to settle in a little and plan a routine and then I'll come and visit."

"Alright." Addison nodded and let her go; Kevin instantly claimed her.

"Don't let that guy hurt you, Betsy. He may seem a good guy, but-"

"He is, Kevin. Just, you know, accept it." she smiled at him, running her hand on his arm. "I'll be good. I'm not exactly far away from here, we'll see each other so often that after a while it also might become annoying." she smirked, then placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, okay?"

Kevin nodded. "Call as soon as you arrive."

"I will."

Betsy took Henry from Cooper's arms and held him tight for a moment, before giving him back to him with a last kiss. She ruffled Lucas's hair and winked at Evelyn; waved at her parents' friends and politely said goodbye to her boyfriend's parents.

"Ready." she told Cameron, who kissed her on her temple before giving his mother one last hug and getting in the car.

"Goodbye!" Betsy yelled as the car started moving, and she waved from the open window. The last thing she heard was Addison's voice, screaming 'I love you!'

**A/N: And so chapter 21 is over. I felt a little sad as I wrote the goodbyes scene, because this means the story only has two chapters left, including the epilogue. I'm surprised at how much Betsy changed during the course of the story, although I was the one writing about her. I hope you enjoyed my story considering how rare the updates became over the summer.**

**For next chapter I had this things planned, which was a letter written by Betsy to Addison and Kevin while she is in college and has no time to go visit them, but now that I got to that point of the story I'm not sure I like it anymore. I could write something else, like Betsy going to a party with her new friends, or Betsy talking to her old friend Melinda after years of nothing, or Betsy and Cameron fluff, or again Betsy remembering about her childhood. I don't know, I'd like to write something different from all the other chapters, but I want you to choose. If you have other suggestions, as always, I'll be more than glad to hear them.**


	22. I Believe In You

Kevin woke up when he heard a muffled noise downstairs. Addison was soundly asleep beside him, and through Henry's baby monitor he could only hear silence.

Slowly and carefully the man stood up and went to the door, cautiously looking in the corridor. Someone was walking up the stairs, but in the dark he couldn't see anything. He closed the bedroom door behind him and made a step forward. He heard sniffing, then a quiet sob. "Betsy?" his daughter appeared before his eyes in the dark, her cheeks wet by tears and an exhausted face. "Hey..." he opened his arms, and the girl immediately hid her face in his chest, letting more tears fall as Kevin rubbed her back. "What happened, beautiful? Is it Cameron? Did he hurt you?"

Without a word, Betsy shook her head no, clinging to Kevin's t-shirt for dear life.

"Betsy, you're scaring me. Are you hurt? What happened, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." the young girl sobbed, and the man hugged her tighter.

"Do you want me to wake Addison? Is it girls stuff?"

"Kev?" he turned towards the master bedroom and saw Addison on the threshold. "I heard you talking and – what happened, Love?"

"Nothing." Betsy repeated, and Kevin led her inside the room.

Betsy sat on the bed, took a big breath, and finally tried to stop crying. She looked up, biting her lip. "I got scared." she admitted.

"Scared? About what?"

"There's so much to do." the girl whined. "All I can do is study, because there ain't much time for anything else. When I'm free, I sleep. I barely saw Cameron this week, and, I don't know, I thought it would be perfect. I don't like my roommate, she's... cold. And it's all difficult to understand. I miss you guys and the year's barely started..."

"Whoa, sweetheart. Calm down, take big breaths." Addison sat next to her and put her left arm around the girl's shoulders. "You can do it, honey. I know you can. You're a strong, amazing girl, and you've been through so much already in your life that really, after a while this will all look like a game to you."

"My dad once told me that since a lot of bad things happened to me everything was going to be good from that moment on." Betsy mumbled, forcing the tears to stop.

"And he was right. I know there were some other bad things along the way, but now you're safe, and you're loved, more than anyone else in the world. We, love you, Betsy. And we believe in you."

"You'll be great, Betsy. I'm sure you'll soon find time to see Cameron, and your roommate can't be that bad." Kevin added, sitting at her other side.

"She is." the girl grumbled. "But I'll try!" she sighed, finally wiping her face. "When can I come visit you again?"

"Whenever you want." Addison smiled at her softly, caressing her hair.

"Maybe in a few weeks time I'll have a free weekend. I hope so, at least. I'd like to come here with Cam and talk to you properly, and see Henry."

"You miss our little guy, huh?"

"I do." she nodded, and let herself fell back on the bed.

"Stay here tonight. Kevin or I can drive you back in the morning." Addison told her worried.

"I have to be there really really early."

"Don't worry, okay? I'll drive you early. Get some sleep."

"Okay." she started to stand up, but Addison grabbed her wrist.

"Stay in bed with us. We missed you."

Betsy rolled her eyes, thinking it was a thing only little kids did. But then she remembered she hadn't slept in a bed with her parents since before her father's death, and it would be a good feeling to feel even more loved for one night.

_**x**_

The next morning, the three of them were awoken by Betsy's alarm on her phone. The girl sat up abruptly and turned it off, then rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned.

"Jesus Betsy, you gave me a heart attack." Addison told her as she sat up as well. "What the heck was that?"

"It's just a song." she mumbled. "And I won't wake up without it, it's what I need to start the day."

"Yeah, skipping a heartbeat or too."

"It's only five." Kevin said looking at his alarm clock. "Do you get up this early every morning?"

"No, I just set it at five the other day to finish studying, and I forgot to change it back. I think I'll get up anyway though, I could take a quick bath."

"Okay." Addison yawned. "I'll go check on Henry."

"Oh, no, I'll do it!" Betsy exclaimed, stopping her.

She walked to her little brother's nursery and looked in the crib. He was still asleep, but he stirred slightly when she entered.

"You're such a perfect baby." she whispered. "I'm sure you're gonna be an awesome little boy in a few years time. And then a very handsome guy... but don't grow too fast, okay? Be my little brother for a while." gently, she caressed his head, careful not to wake him.

"She's perfect too, isn't she?" Addison asked Kevin in the corridor, from where they could hear Betsy's words. "I didn't expect her to change so much, yet she became the daughter I've always wanted."

"I think deep down she's always been this way. She just never showed it, she built walls around herself... but we're all good now, huh? And I love you."

"I love you too."


	23. Thank You, My Savior

"Betsyyy!" Henry began running and jumped into her arms as soon as she got out of the car. With an effort, the girl picked him up, laughing. He was getting heavier and heavier lately, and she feared the day when, coming home to visit, she'd see a big boy before her eyes.

Kevin walked out of the house as well, and shook Cameron's hand. Betsy giggled when she noticed that her fiancé was still intimidated by her father, even after years.

"Hey Kevin."

"Hello sweetheart." the man smiled at her. He hadn't seen his daughter in a couple of months because of her and Cameron's jobs, and phone calls weren't the same. He kissed her cheek and hugged her, as she put down her brother.

"Where's Addison, Kev?"

"Oh, attempting to cook. So, how are the two of you doing?"

Cameron and Betsy exchanged an ecstatic glance. "We have news." he said. "Why don't we go inside."

"Sure." Kevin raised his eyebrows, but started to walk inside. It either was about their job or their love life, and he felt weird when the thought that Betsy might be pregnant crossed his mind.

Behind him, Betsy linked fingers with Cameron and ruffled Henry's hair with her free hand, smiling warmly.

"Hey Addie!"

"Hi, honey, how was the ride here?"

"There wasn't traffic, Addison, thank you." Cameron answered for her.

"That's great." she nodded. "Take a seat, lunch is almost ready. Henry, go wash your hands!" she told the nine-year-old boy.

Kevin caught Cameron and Betsy looking at each other again, an excited look on their faces.

"So, these news? What are they?"

Betsy raised her eyebrows, her face beaming of joy. "Shouldn't we wait until after lunch?"

"You have news?" Addison looked at them happily. "I wanna know them now!"

"Me too!" Henry said, entering the room again.

"Okay, then. Do you wanna tell them, Betsy, or should I?"

The girl took his hand again, and he lifted their entwined fingers to his lips to kiss Betsy's.

"Wait! Oh my God!"

Betsy laughed at Addison's outburst, and looked at Kevin and Henry's confused faces. "You tell them, honey."

"Okay. Betsy and I are getting married!"

Addison clapped her hands and immediately went to hug her daughter and her future son-in-law.

Kevin, shocked, gave them a small smile, slightly relieved that his girl wasn't pregnant and happy despite his jealousy. "I'm proud of you."

"Kevin... will you walk me down th aisle?"

"Of, of course!" he stuttered, touched.

Betsy smiled. "What are you thinking, Henry?"

"I've never been to a wedding."

"Weddings are fun, little man. Oh, Betsy, I am so proud of you!"

Betsy laughed. "Thank you. I'm glad you are, it's important to me."

"I know your parents would be as well." Kevin added, and Addison nodded in agreement.

Cameron squeezed his fiancée's hand and gave her a smile. "Henry, you can be the ring bearer."

"What's that?" the kid asked, staring at his sister and her boyfriend. Her _fiancé_.

"You'll bring the rings to the altar, buddy."

He shrugged. "I guess so. Mom, can we eat now?"

_**x**_

"You look so happy." Addison was watching Betsy as they cleared up the kitchen, and she noticed she never stopped smiling.

"I really am, Addie. I've never been this happy."

"I am so glad you are, sweetheart." she walked to her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I have something else to tell you, now that we are alone."

Addison nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Thank you." Betsy took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Thank you for giving me a life. You, you saved me, Addison. I know, Kevin was there too, but you were my savior. And.. I'm grateful for that. And I love you."

"I love you too. And you don't have to thank me. I-"

"I do. Because thanks to you I can see my life in a whole different – and better – perspective. I, I want to adopt someday. Cameron and I discussed it... we want our own children but...adoption is an amazing thing. Magic. So thank you, Mom. Thank you for loving me."

**THE END**


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